Grant cards won’t expire, yet – assures SASSA

THE KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) spokesperson for the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) Sandy Godlwana says people who are concerned about their Sassa cards expiring can rest assured their cards will still work beyond 31 March.

ALSO READ: What you need to know: Sassa grant renewals and payment dates

“Sassa is refuting social media misinformation and claims about the expiry of the Sassa-SAPO Card on 31 March 2021,” said Godlwana.

“These claims are not true. The Sassa cards will not stop working on 31 March 2021,” reported the spokesperson.

The confusion arose when the SA Reserve Bank reported that the Sassa cards would need to be replaced.

This was confirmed by Sassa, who added that there was no set date on when this would have to be done.

“Information on the card replacement will be made public in due course,” said the statement.

“Sassa clients have the right to choose their payment method and there is nothing that forces the clients who are currently being paid through the South Africa Post Office (SAPO) to change to bank accounts.  They will still be paid using the current Sassa-SAPO card beyond April 2021,” said the statement.

Godlwana, also added that grant recipients need to bear in mind that they do not have to withdraw their funds on the day they become available but could access them any time during the month.

Click below to hear a voice recording of Paseka Letsatsi, National Spokesperson for SASSA about this matter.

Covid SRD Grants

Meanwhile, the South African Post Office spokesperson, Johan Kruger also confirmed today (29 January) is not the last day beneficiaries of the relief social grant of R350 can collect their money.

“Many people who applied for the Covid SRD relief grant are under the impression that today, 29 January 2021, is the last day that they will be able to collect their grant.  As a result, beneficiaries and flocking to Post Office branches in large numbers,” said Kruger. 

“Covid SRD relief money that has been approved will not expire and will remain available at the Post Office until it is collected,” reassured the spokesperson.

ALSO READ: Sassa: Temporary grant recipients urged to appeal by providing referral reports

“There is no need to rush to the Post Office to collect your grant. The money will be waiting for you until you are able to collect it.  You will receive a SMS notification informing you of when to come and collect your grant at the Post Office Branch,” said Kruger.

Extension?

Godlwana of Sassa confirmed that until an announcement is made by President Cyril Ramaphosa to the contrary, the last payments of relief grants from Sassa will take place on 31 January. 

However this refers to the payment by the grant agency to those who will then collect it, rather than pay points paying beneficiaries.

“We can confirm that the last payment will be done by 31 January 2021. Sassa has seen social media posts on an extension but we as an Agency wait for a formal announcement done by President which has not be done as yet,” said Godlwana.

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