SASSA asks social grant beneficiaries to be patient for couple of days
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA's) acting CEO Abraham Mahlangu cited system failure for the non-payment of social grants since July 1.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) responded by saying it was concerned about reports from social grant beneficiaries across the country of systems glitches which had resulted in many of them failing to cash their monthly payouts.
The DA added that SASSA and the South African Post Office (SAPO), which has been appointed preferred payment channel for all social grants, appeared to have been ill-prepared for the changes to the payment system, which came into effect on 1 July.
However, SASSA has meanwhile assured beneficiaries that their social grants will be paid in full.
Pensioners and social grant beneficiaries have been asked to wait a couple of days before the issue of their payouts is resolved.
HERAUT has been inundated with enquiries since July 1, after hundreds of SASSA beneficiaries did not receive their payouts on the expected date.
According to SASSA, the issue was caused by the switch from the old to the new payment system and Mahlangu confirmed they were working to resolve the problem.
“We are aware that beneficiaries are experiencing problems with the electronic payment of their social grants. What is being experienced is a result of a process of changing from an old to a new payment system for social grants. SASSA is also in a process of phasing out Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) as directed by the Constitutional Court and introducing the South African Post Office (SAPO) to pay social grants,” said Mahlangu.
He added that beneficiaries will be paid in full and that the funds are already in their accounts.
“We request beneficiaries to give themselves at least three to four days to withdraw their grants. Should a beneficiary choose to access their funds through an ATM, the account type a beneficiary chooses should be a savings account – in the event of the savings option being rejected, the beneficiary can then choose the cheque account option.”
According to Mahlangu, SASSA and SAPO are working tirelessly to find a solution to this problem and ensure that all beneficiary services are restored in the shortest possible time.
“We further undertake to keep our beneficiaries informed,” he concluded.
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