Glitches resolved and Sassa grants have now been paid out

The glitches that caused delays in South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) payments to some beneficiaries have been corrected after more than two weeks.

This week, the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on social development demanded assurances from Sassa and Postbank that the glitches would not be repeated during the next payment cycle.

Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele and Lindiwe Zulu, Minister of Social Development, were reassuring.

READ: System migration root cause of Postbank glitches, says Gungubele

Gungubele said, according to a report by Postbank, all Sassa grant beneficiaries whose accounts had been adversely affected by system challenges on 5 and 6 September had now been corrected and measures were already being taken to ensure the glitches would not be repeated in October.

Refiloe Ntsekhe, Democratic Alliance Gauteng shadow MEC for social development, said there was no justification or excuse for the funds not being paid on time.

“Nothing can excuse this. I’m disgusted, they should hang their heads in shame for failing the vulnerable children and elderly people in South Africa,” she said.

She knew of an elderly man who slept at an ATM for days, waiting for grant money. “Others had to borrow money to go back and forth to get their grants,” she said.

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said the issue of whether the department of social development and Postbank could deliver Sassa grants effectively was not a new feature in the state’s involvement in service delivery and poverty relief.

“It’s unfortunate. The minister can blame Postbank and Postbank can blame the system, but these things should have been planned for and the process should have been tried and tested,” he said.

Croucamp said these were the type of tragedies in the run-up to the 2024 elections that the government and ANC will hopefully have to fully account for in the end.