Will Postbank resignations leave social grants unpaid next month? Government clears the air

Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele has reassured those who receive social grants they will get their money, despite the mass exodus of execs at Postbank.

Postbank was thrown into chaos earlier this month after a technical glitch to its payment systems left thousands of pensioners and social grant recipients unable to collect their money from ATMs, the post office, or retailers.

Postbank distributes grants on behalf of the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa).

This was followed days later by the resignation of five board members.

Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday, Gungubele said the changes at Postbank would not affect grant payments.

ALSO READ: Social grant payments: System migration root cause of Postbank glitches, says Gungubele

“We wish to assure social grant beneficiaries and the nation that the changes in the Postbank board will not have an impact on any of our operations or the capacity of Postbank.”

He said Postbank had informed the department that all Sassa grant beneficiaries whose accounts had been affected had now been corrected. He said the glitch would not affect payments next month.

“We will start the October payments in less than two weeks. We have started preparing to ensure we do not encounter the challenges that were experienced this month. Our officials will continue engaging to make sure we are ready to pay on time next month.”

‘Oppressive and hostile’ attitude

In a letter to Gungubele, disgruntled board members accused him of an “oppressive and hostile” attitude.

ALSO READ: Postbank board resigns over ‘hostile and oppressive’ Gungubele

They said recent events between them and the minister led them to resign with immediate effect.

“No self-respecting board can perform any meaningful work with the level of interference, undue pressure and influence that we’ve had. This obviously has deeply disturbed us,” read part of the letter.