Confirmed! Early payment for ALL Sassa grants in April

Good news for the millions of South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant recipients is that on top of this year’s first increases taking effect in April, payment dates have been moved to an earlier “time slot”.

Sassa grant payments usually takes place from the 3rd to the 5th of every month. The 5th of April falls on a Saturday which poses an operational hurdle as payments do not take place over weekends and on public holidays.

Sassa payment dates for April 2025

Sassa spokesperson Andile Tshona confirmed to The Citizen on Monday that beneficiaries of all types of permanent grants will be able to collect their money earlier next month, in April.

• Older Persons Grant: Wednesday, 2 April
• Disability Grant: Thursday, 3 April
• Children’s grants: Friday, 4 April

Sassa grant increases effective from April 2025

In his postponed Budget Speech earlier this month, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced National Treasury’s allocation of R284.7 billion for permanent social grants in 2025/26.

This allows for the following increases to kick in from April 2025:

• Old Age (60-74 years) and Disability grants by R130 to R2,315;
• Old Age (75+ years) Grant by R135 to R2,335;
• War Veterans Grant by R130 to R2,315;
• Care Dependency Grant by R130 to R2,315 
• Child Support Grant by R30 to R560; and
• Foster Care Grant by R70 to R1,250.

Sassa gold cards: What happens after 20 March deadline?

Thursday, 20 March marked the deadline for Sassa gold cardholders to update their cards with the new Postbank black card.

The following restrictions will apply for those who were not able to make the switch before the deadline:

• No beneficiary will be able to use their Sassa gold card to make any transaction, even if they have funds in their account.
• Beneficiaries will not be able to use Sassa gold cards to buy or withdraw cash inside stores.
• Retailers will not accept the cards for any transactions, and any attempts will result in automatic system transaction declines.
• Beneficiaries will also not be able to use Sassa gold cards on any ATM. The card may be swallowed when inserted in any ATM to attempt a transaction.

Where to access your grant payment

Postbank spokesperson Bongani Dikeo told The Citizen that grant recipients who were not able to migrate yet would still be able to collect their grants.

They will, however, be able to access their money only from branches of the South African Post Office or as cash withdrawals from retailers’ till points in April and May.

Postbank will continue to swap the Sassa gold card until the end of June 2025.

Beneficiaries who already have a Postbank black card have been urged to access their money through ATMs and the following retailers:

• Shoprite,
• Usave,
• Boxer,
• Spar,
• Pick n Pay, and
• Checkers.

According to Postbank, grant recipients with black cards will not be assisted at post office branches.

Eligibility of foreign nationals 

Foreign nationals are not yet eligible for the new black cards.

However, they can still access their grant money at any post office using their current documents now that the gold cards have stopped working. To ensure a hassle-free experience, they must bring their existing documents along. 

For more information, contact Postbank toll-free at 0800 53 54 55 or email postbank.enquiries@postbank.co.za.  

General Sassa queries and complaints

• E-mail Sassa head office at: GrantEnquiries@sassa.gov.za
• Contact the Sassa Toll-Free Call Centre on 0800 60 10 11; or
• Contact the Sassa head office on 012 400 2322.

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