The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has confirmed that many of its grant recipients are opting to have their social grants paid into bank accounts. This comes as Sassa gold cards are being replaced by Postbank black cards.
This was revealed in a National Council of Provinces meeting of the Select Committee on Social Services.
The Sassa gold card is being phased out. Its replacement, the Postbank black card, boasts enhanced security features and complies with modern banking standards.
It is estimated that around 3 million social grant recipients used the Sassa gold card to access their monthly grant payments. While it might be expected that these recipients would continue using the Postbank and upgrade to a new black card, many are switching to bank account payments instead.
By 31 January 2024, Postbank had 2.8 million social grant recipients, which was about 100,000 fewer than they had before.
Just over 1.3 million of these social grant recipients upgraded to a new Postbank black card by the end of March. This means that 1 million recipients are still using expiring Sassa gold cards.
Sassa reported that more than 567,000 recipients switched from receiving their grant payments through the Postbank to other banks.
By 20 March 2024, 567,000 recipients switched to other banks.
Sassa says that the number of recipients opting to have their social grants paid into bank accounts has placed additional pressure on Sassa staff in recent weeks. This is because recipients wanting to change their social grant payment method must visit a Sassa office to complete the process.
The grant payment agency reportedly extended working hours to process payment method changes faster.
The validity of Sassa gold cards in March 2025 means that beneficiaries can continue using their gold cards to access their monthly grant payments until the end of May 2024.
Beneficiaries have been cautioned that there will be no further extensions to the validity of gold cards beyond May 2024. Beneficiaries are encouraged to collect a Postbank black card.
