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What now? Essential guide for Sassa grant beneficiaries who have not been able to switch their gold card for the new Postbank black card.
Sassa beneficiaries must migrate from their gold cards to the new Postbank black card to continue to receive their grant payments. Pictures: Gallo Images/ Alet Pretorius and supplied
The deadline for South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant beneficiaries to swap their gold cards for the Postbank Black Card officially arrived on Thursday.
In an update provided earlier this week, Postbank CEO Nikki Mbengashe said more than 1.1 million Sassa recipients have migrated from gold cards to the new Postbank black cards.
Approached for comment by The Citizen on Thursday morning, Sassa spokesperson Andile Tshona said it is “concerning” that more than a million permanent grant beneficiaries have not yet updated their gold card.
“Sassa appeals to its beneficiaries to continue to visit Postbank sites to get their new black card. More than a million of our beneficiaries have not yet migrated to Postbank which is concerning.
“We appeal to our beneficiaries to continue to visit Postbank sites to get their new black card,” he said.
Tshona stressed that the deadline marks the date when the Sassa gold cards will stop working, not the last day one can apply for the Postbank black card.
“We have now officially laid the gold card to rest. This is the last day Sassa gold cards will operate. After today, the card will be no more.
“Working with Postbank, we will continue to assist our beneficiaries until everyone has migrated,” he added.
Postbank spokesperson Bongani Dikeo said that grant recipients who had not been able to migrate would however be able to collect their grants from the South African Post Office, as well as withdraw cash from retailers’ till points in April and May.
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Postbank will continue to swap the gold card until the end of June 2025.
“This is when we believe we should have swapped all beneficiaries that bank with Postbank,” Dikeo said.
We, however, plead with all beneficiaries to please use the rest of the month of March and perhaps into early April 2025 to go get their new cards,” Dikeo explained.
According to Dikeo, the Postbank and Sassa outreach’s mobile teams that have been issuing cards to beneficiaries in outlying and rural areas will continue to ensure that cards are issued to every beneficiary that has to be migrated.
“Further to the promise made by Sassa and Postbank that no beneficiary will be left out, we are pleased to announce that our home visits programme has fully started,” the Postbank CEO said.
Through the home visits programme, SASSA and Postbank teams attend to beneficiaries at their places of residence, such as residential or nursing homes, and provide them with grant access enablement services.
A note from a medical doctor, a social services worker official, or a clinic’s medical report confirming the illness and complete incapacitation must accompany the request.
Bookings for home visits can be made by a beneficiary directly or a person close to the beneficiary. This person need not have any family relations with the beneficiary.
A beneficiary’s ID number, residential details, and contact details will be required, and the beneficiary’s ID number shall be used as a reference number for any follow-up enquiries.
The home visits will enable the beneficiaries to nominate a trusted individual to sign a Postbank Account Access Authority letter, giving authority over their account.
Dikeo explained that Sassa gold cardholders who may have missed the deadline will be paid through a choice of any of the following methods:
a) Beneficiaries will be able to get their grant payments using an ID at any of the 543 Post Office branches countrywide.
b) Alternatively, beneficiaries will be paid through an existing cardless payment method that Postbank already uses to pay Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant beneficiaries from the following retailers:
According to him, these are already the primary places where most of the beneficiaries paid by Postbank are already collecting their payments.
“As the primary aim is that they should all have a black card, beneficiaries will be encouraged to replace their cards in the period when they are using these alternative payment methods,
“So, cards will continue to be issued in these places even during the payment periods when they have come to collect their money,” Dikeo pointed out.
Dial dial *120*355# from a cellphone to look up a nearby site.
A list of locations issuing new cards will be provided.
“Grant beneficiaries can replace their Sassa gold cards with the Postbank black cards where they normally collect their grant payments such as retailers, including Shoprite, Checkers, Usave, Boxer Stores nationwide and Gauteng Pick n Pay stores,” Postbank CEO Nikki Mbengashe stated previously.
The card issuance process is free of charge, and swapping to the new card won’t affect beneficiaries’ grant payments.
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 after the gold cards stop working. To ensure a smooth transaction, they must bring the existing documents.
For further information, contact Postbank toll-free at 0800 53 54 55 or send an email to postbank.enquiries@postbank.co.za.
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