Postbank confirmed that South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) gold cards no longer work. This expiration of gold cards is set to affect more than one million Sassa grant beneficiaries.
Currently, Sassa distributes millions of permanent grant payments, including the Older Persons pension grant, Disability grant, War Veterans grant, Care Dependency grant, Foster Child grant, Child Support grant, Child Support grant Top-Up and Grant-in-aid.
Postbank CEO Nikki Mbengashe briefed members of the media earlier this week on the rollout of new postbank black cards. To date, over one million Postbank black cards have been issued to social grant beneficiaries which is less than half of the approximately 3 million social grant beneficiaries served by the agency.
Mbengashe confirmed all Sassa gold cards will cease to function on Thursday, 20 March 2025. Beneficiaries will not be able to use their Sassa gold cards as they previously did to make transactions and withdraw money.
Beneficiaries would also not be able to use Sassa gold cards at any ATM. The Sassa gold may be swallowed when inserted in any ATM to attempt a transaction,
Mbengashe assured grant beneficiaries that their money will still be available for collection at a Post Office branch, for those who have not replaced their gold cards with the new black card yet. Beneficiaries will be required to provided a form of identification and pin number when collecting social grant payments.
Postbank Black Card Rollout Will Continue
Postbank will continue issuing black cards. Over 320 sites across the country are currently issuing the new Postbank black cards to facilitate the transition for beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries who are bedridden can register for a home visit at a Sassa office. They must provide a medical certificate proving their condition, along with their ID, proof of medical condition, and cellphone number. This can be done at a Sassa office or by calling the Sassa call centre or Postbank call centre.
We are calling for people to provide a medical certificate, a social worker certificate or a clinic letter. It is there to provide for people who honestly need it.
This allows Postbank to ensure that beneficiaries can nominate a proxy to collect their social grant on their behalf.
Mbengashe assured beneficiaries that they will still receive social grant payments.
No one will be left without their grant because of their [expired] gold card,
Postbank have faced criticism for their handling of the rollout with parliamentary labelling the process as inefficient.
The rollout of Postbank black cards commenced in 2024. When the rollout began, grant beneficiaries were assured that no Sassa gold cards would expire until all beneficiaries received a Postbank Black card.
However, in early 2025, the agency confirmed that Sassa gold cards would stop working at the end of February. Following calls from stakeholders, an extension was granted.
