Learn more about your SASSA cards

WEST Durban councillors recently attended a stakeholder engagement meeting held by SASSA (South African Social Security Agency).

The meeting was held by the agency to correct all misinformation and to receive feedback from communities on how to improve its services.

“Stakeholders were assured at the meeting that measures were being put into place to ensure that grants for 2018 would be paid out timeously and without any hassles,” said the DA PR councillor for ward 13 and 15, Marlaine Nair.

ALSO READ: ‘SASSA grants will be paid out’ – Social Development Department

SASSA card expiry

The expiry date has no effect on a beneficiary and arrangements have been made for cards to continue working.

“It has been reported that people have been visiting houses and telling SASSA beneficiaries that they have been mandated by SASSA to change cards, asking beneficiaries for identity numbers, card numbers as well as PIN numbers,” said Nair.

She urged beneficiaries to be careful of these scamsters and to keep their information private.

Deductions

Deductions may not exceed more than 10 per cent of the total grant. The only deduction should be for a funeral policy.

“Sometimes beneficiaries take out several funeral policies as well as loans, which leads to them wondering why their pension is small or is being short paid,” said Nair.

She advised that beneficiaries visit their local SASSA offices to view the deductions that are being made on their grants.

She warned beneficiaries to be careful when signing or putting thumb prints on documents without first reading or understanding the documents.

ALSO READ: 7 things you need to know about the social grants debacle

Child support grants

This grant is not permanent and expires when a child turns 18.

“Recipients must refrain from making long-term financial plans with this income in mind. A child support grant can be applied for from the birth of a child. One does not have to wait for a specific age before applying and does not have to be the biological parent of the child to apply for a grant. Even fathers or grandmothers may apply,” said Nair.

Assets

The value of a person’s assets does not affect the eligibility to apply for a grant.

However, income received does play a role and applicants will have to pass a means test before qualifying to receive a grant.

The manager of the SASSA Pinetown office, Zodwa Macaringue, the manager of grants administration, Dumisani Mkhize, and the manager of SASSA Chatsworth, Alvine Haripersadh, said they were committed to putting beneficiaries first and looked forward to a good working relationship with councillors while trying to resolve SASSA issues.

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