Sassa card replacement process proves costly for grant beneficiaries

Sassa grant beneficiaries in Khayelitsha say that the card renewal system has proven to be a costly exercise marred by long queues because of poor planning. All social grant beneficiaries, around the country, are expected to replace their South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) gold cards with the new Postbank black cards by the 20 March 2025 deadline. The migration to new cards is part of the move by Postbank, which administers the social grant payment system, to modernise and secure the grant payment system, following past disruptions caused by fraud, card cloning, and system failures.

The Sassa grant beneficiaries were speaking to the Minister of Social Development, Nokuzola Tolashe during her monitoring visit in Khayelitsha on Monday. Tolashe visited Shoprite stores in Grabouw and Bellville to ensure that there are enough people to help the beneficiaries to change their cards. According to Sassa spokesperson, Andile Tshona, “there have been concerns that, in the Western Cape in particular, there are long queues, there are not enough sites and there is not capacity for people to be assisted to change their cards to Postbank black cards.”

Luyanda Adams, chairperson of Social Development Forum in Khayelitsha said he was not impressed with the replacement of the gold card. “Sassa used to use yellow cards. The government changed them and said there would be no problems with them and that they were safe,” he said. “I can’t guarantee that the new cards will not give problems.”

Adams complained that the social development agency has changed the card every three years. “When the government says beneficiaries must change their cards, it’s fine. However, the change must not happen regularly.” Regular card replacement frustrates and inconveniences Sassa beneficiaries, especially the disabled and the elderly who use crutches and wheelchairs to move around, he said.

As big as Khayelitsha is, there is only one Postbank and elders and disabled people have to travel to Khayelitsha Shoprite to access their grants. So that Sassa services can be closer to where beneficiaries stay, Postbank plans to establish 50 additional sites across the Western Cape, according to Social Development spokesperson, Sandi Mbatshe. “Hopefully, people will be served in their own areas when Postbank rolls out the 50 sites,” he said.

Black Sash conducted a study which found that the sites that have been selected by Postbank do not necessarily reflect where Sassa card holders live and even accessing information for ‘the site closest to you’ has been plagued by inaccurate information on the USSD platform and even on social media.

After the 20 March 2025 deadline, the Sassa gold cards will no longer function at ATMs and retailers. Photo supplied.

Elethu Zwelinga, who was accompanying her mother, said she had to spend R34 to travel from Site C to Khayelitsha Shoprite. “Sassa should have trained people who would help us change our cards and send them to areas so that we don’t have to spend money on transport,” she said.

Nonyameko Rasmeni, who came to change her old-age grant card, said: “Shoprite is close to my place in Site B. I would have walked if Sassa used the Shoprite store at Nonqubela Link in Site B.”

Esethu Kasibe, who came to get a new child grant card, said Sassa’s use of one card replacement site in Khayelitsha made residents wait in long lines. “I woke up at 5 a.m. and arrived here at 7 a.m. but I was number 99 in the queue. Using one card replacement centre has created a long queue,” she said.

Other findings by Black Sash include:

Beneficiaries were unclear about where their February grant payment was and were now being pushed to the Postbank black card, without proper recourse.

Massive network glitches recur on grant pay days, forcing Postbank to turn away clients and ask them to return when the network is up and running.

Some beneficiaries who had swapped over to the Postbank black cards did not receive the full amount of their grant and were not assisted by the Postbank staff responsible for card beneficiaries. They are now not aware of how to address the issue.