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IOL News
29-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Are SASSA beneficiaries losing money by switching to personal bank accounts?
A growing number of SASSA beneficiaries are opting to receive their grants through personal bank accounts. Image: Nokuthula Mbatha/ Independent Newspapers. The North West Legislature's Portfolio Committee on Health and Social Development has raised serious concerns over the growing trend of social grant beneficiaries opting to receive their payments through personal bank accounts, a move that could be costing them a portion of their much-needed support. During an oversight meeting held with the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and the Department of Social Development, Committee members were briefed on the migration from the traditional SASSA Gold Cards to the newly introduced Postbank Black Cards. The migration was prompted by a South African Reserve Bank (SARB) directive following a security breach involving the Gold Cards. However, it emerged that SARB has now suspended the migration process indefinitely. Beneficiaries are currently permitted to continue using their existing SASSA Gold Cards beyond the original May 31 deadline, a shift the Committee believes must be communicated to avoid panic and confusion. "People were rushing to switch cards, some even under pressure. Now, they need clarity and reassurance that their current cards are still functional. You need to ensure that this is communicated widely,' urged Committee Chairperson, Hon. Karabo Magagane. The Committee expressed deep concern over SASSA's revelation that 43,945 grant recipients have chosen to bypass both the SASSA Gold Card and the Postbank Black Card systems, instead opting for direct bank payments. While this may offer perceived convenience, the Committee fears that the associated transaction fees at commercial banks are quietly eroding the actual value of the grants. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading 'These beneficiaries may not realise that they are losing money to transaction fees and service charges, funds that are meant to support their most basic needs,' Hon. Magagane cautioned. Further compounding the financial strain, Committee members highlighted the informal deductions being imposed by some local retailers. Local tuck shops reportedly charge R10 for every R100 withdrawn, a surcharge that further reduces the amount of money recipients receive. 'This completely defeats the purpose of a social grant. A grant is supposed to alleviate poverty, not get eaten up by unnecessary charges,' one member stated. The Committee also slammed the limited number of Postbank conversion sites in the North West. Currently, only 12 sites are operational across the province, a situation described as 'grossly inadequate,' particularly for elderly beneficiaries living in remote areas. "Many of our elderly citizens live far from these centres and are not in a position to travel long distances just to access a card. This could be a driving factor behind the shift to personal bank accounts," said Hon. Magagane. In response to the pressing challenges, the Committee pledged to intensify its engagement with SASSA and Postbank, the two State-Owned Entities tasked with grant disbursement, to push for more accessible service points, better communication, and increased public awareness. "We are committed to ensuring that no beneficiary is left behind. We will push for ongoing awareness campaigns, improved accessibility, and sustained outreach efforts so that every grant recipient understands their options and the implications of each," Hon. Magagane said. The Committee is expected to reconvene in the coming weeks to assess progress and implementation of the proposed solutions. IOL News Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
The South African
25-05-2025
- Business
- The South African
2025 SASSA social grant review underway
The 2025 SASSA social grant system has been in a state of flux all year. First, we had the Finance Minister missing the February budget deadline. And this led to a delay in announcement of 2025 SASSA social grant increases. At the same time, you had the department wrestling with a High Court Ruling to review the 2025 SASSA social grant system for SRD clients. And the on-going Postbank Black Card debacle that was never fully resolved, after causing untold misery for the elderly and disabled … No group suffered more than elderly grant recipients during the Postbank Gold-to-Black Card farce. Image: File Now, however, the South African Social Security Agency has begun a review of the 2025 SASSA social grant payment system. The goal herein is to fix long-running problems. 'Core' SASSA grants are disbursed to more than 28-million beneficiaries every month. Specifically, the 2025 SASSA social grant review will re-examine the Master and Service Level Agreements between SASSA, the SA Post Office (SAPO) and Postbank. Since 2018, this agreement has guided SASSA grant payments. However, it is abundantly clear that after SAPO's financial collapse, and Postbank took over in 2022, their problems have only worsened. SAPO-POSTBANK COLLAPSE Any SASSA client who hadn't opted to be paid into a conventional bank account, soon changed their payment option after the Postbank card debacle. Image: File Better still, the project is being headed up by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), rather than SASSA. The department head says the 2025 SASSA social grant review will be completed before the year is through. In turn, the department will examine what caused the breakdown between SASSA and Postbank. And it will suggest ways to make the SASSA grant payment system better. Recurring problems, such as 'network challenges' and 'system glitches' are often attributed to the failures. However, the 2025 SASSA social grant review goes further. It will look at Postbank's failure to provide access to chairs, water, and toilets to beneficiaries waiting in queues at branches. As such, the review wants to hear the viewpoints of affected beneficiaries themselves. And civil society groups had until Friday (23 May 2025) to comment and nominate representatives for the project's steering committee. In time, the goal is for an improvement plan to be tabled, and a progress report produced every six months for the next two years. Civil advocacy groups have welcomed the review into 2025 SASSA social grant payments. They're happy that problems between SASSA and Postbank are 'finally being acknowledged.' DO YOU THINK SASSA SHOULD FORMALLY CUT TIES WITH POSTBANK? Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
