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Goodwood senior residents are furious and at wits end with the chaos and confusion about the Sassa card renewal dilemma.
A 77-year-old resident from Goodwood stated how he went to the Goodwood Post Office on numerous occasions and was never assisted. According to this senior “hundreds of people were not helped either due to systems being offline, technical difficulties, or insufficient cards.”
Another Goodwood resident told TygerBurger how her mother who is 80 years old had to get her Sassa card renewed and was sent away multiple times.
“My mother has osteopenia, suffers severe pain in her back and knees, has difficulty in getting around, she uses a walking stick. We went on Tuesday 25 April, my mom remained in the car while I stood in the queue. When I got there at about 11:00 the queue hadn’t moved in two hours as the people directly ahead of me arrived between 09:00 and 09:30.
“About seven people were standing, mostly aged between 70 and 80 years with different medical conditions mostly related to arthritis causing pain in the legs and back. The queue only started moving at around 14:00.”
No communication from the officials
According to this resident, some people went to enquire about the reason for the wait and were shunned when they made enquiries. Allegedly, there was only one laptop and fingerprint device, and the system was offline. “They just tell people to either go to the Sassa office or come back the following day,” the resident said.
She wants to know “what would happen if someone collapsed, goes into a diabetic coma, or has a heart attack because of the way things are done?”
The resident claimed that “there is no consideration and compassion for the elderly.”
A new way to pay Sassa social grants
According to Dr Bongani Diako, Postbank spokesperson, they have noted several complaints relating to the collection of expired cards within Post Office branches and therefore, social grants beneficiaries with expired cards no longer have to stand in queues to replace their cards or switch their payment method as they will be able to collect their social grants cardless using only their ID and card PIN.
Postbank has launched a new method of paying Sassa grants that doesn’t require a physical card. This means that beneficiaries whose Sassa/Postbank Gold Cards have expired or haven’t been collected can still receive their grants safely and for free at participating retailers like Shoprite, Usave, Boxer, Pick n Pay, and OK.
Grants recipients whose Sassa cards have expired, or are soon to expire, no longer need to go to Post Office branches to collect new cards as they are paid their social grants.
To use this new payment method, Sassa beneficiaries just need to bring their ID books and Sassa/Postbank Gold Card PIN to any of the participating retailers. At the till point, they will be asked to validate their identity and enter their cellphone number, and then enter their PIN to receive their payment. The process is fast, free, and safe, and beneficiaries can get assistance from cashiers if needed.
Follow these steps
- Bring your cellphone, ID book and Sassa/Postbank Gold Card PIN.
- Go to the till-point and provide your ID and cellphone number to verify your identity as a registered grant beneficiary.
- You’ll receive a confirmation message on your phone (you don’t need to have airtime).
- Enter your Sassa/Gold Card PIN (the same one used for ATM withdrawals).
- The cashier will give you the requested amount of money.
- This new payment method will be available to those who haven’t yet collected their new cards due to the expiry of their Sassa Gold Cards, or those that simply want to collect their grants without their cards. It will be rolled out to retailers for the next April month-end payments that started in the first week of May. There’s no need to pre-register for this new payment method.
Postbank’s cardless grants payment method will also help reduce the queues for card replacements at Post Office branches as there is no longer the need to collect cards to be paid.
Sassa beneficiaries collecting their social grants money through Post Office branches or physical cash payment points whose Sassa/Postbank Gold Cards have expired, or are soon to expire, will be able to be paid inside branches or the physical cash payment points sites via biometric verification.
