Sassa apologises for issues with gold card replacements

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has apologised to grant recipients for problems relating to the replacement of expired gold cards. 

The Sassa gold card is issued by the Postbank and enables grant recipients to transact using the card and PIN within the national payment system at banks’ ATMs, South African Post Office branches, retailers and cash paypoints. According to the law, Visa and MasterCards expire after five years.

“Sassa has about 5.9-million social grants recipients who transact through the gold cards, most of which will expire by June 2023. Clients are urged to check the expiry date on their cards,” the agency said.

“Client payments will be processed as normal and funds are safely stored in the clients' bank accounts. To avoid non-access to these funds, recipients have the option to either replace the Sassa gold card at the identified Sapo branch or an alternative venue provided by Postbank, a participating retailer or use the cardless withdrawal option provided by Postbank.

“Clients can also use the services of another bank. Due to this, clients will need to request a change of payment method at their nearest local office or alternative venue Sassa will make available specifically for this project,” it said.

Social grants recipients who choose to get their grants payment through their personal bank account must bring these documents to Sassa:

• proof of bank account from the bank or three months bank statements that depict the personal details of the client, such as names and bank accounts; and
• proof of identity.

These documents should be submitted to the nearest Sassa office to mandate the agency to pay the beneficiary's grant into the chosen personal bank account.

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