Reacting to large scale problems with electronic payments of grants earlier this year, Mahlangu said the agency is aware of the problem and is in the process of fixing it.
“What is being experienced is a result of a process of changing from an old to a new payment system for social grants. SASSA is also in the process of phasing out Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), as directed by the Constitutional Court and introducing the South African Post Office (SAPO) to pay social grants,” he says in a statement released by the government’s media agency.
”We assure beneficiaries that their social grants will be paid in full. In fact, the funds are already in their accounts. We request beneficiaries to give themselves at least three days to withdraw their grants,” Mahlangu said.
Mahlangu also explained that should a beneficiary choose to access their funds through an Automated Teller Machine (ATM), the account type a beneficiary chooses should be the “savings account”.
In the event of the savings option being rejected, the beneficiary can then choose the “cheque account” option.
Mahlangu apologised for the inconvenience caused to the beneficiaries. He assured that the agency and SAPO are working tirelessly to find a solution to the problem and ensure that all beneficiary services are restored in the shortest possible time.
“We further undertake to keep our beneficiaries informed,” Mahlangu said.
SASSA and SAPO are facilitating a card swap from the old SASSA/Grindrod cards to the new SASSA/SAPO by end of August 2018.
As at 26 June 2018, a total of 1 274 719 beneficiaries against a target of approximately 2.7 million, were migrated from old SASSA/Grindrod card to the new SASSA/SAPO payment cards.
The changing of cards are currently taking place at identified venues, including pay point stations, community halls and SAPO branches.
Beneficiaries, who are unable to visit the identified sites due to illness, will be given the opportunity to arrange at home visits. They can also call SASSA toll free number on 0800 60 10 11, or by visiting nearest local office to request a home visit.
