President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that South Africa's social grant assistance programme continues to benefit at least 18 million people after going from 2 million beneficiaries in 1999.
Should an individual be denied a social grant, then this means that they don’t qualify for it and South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) is responsible for determining criteria of who is to receive a grant.
Normally, the Agency follows its payment schedule to make sure that social grants reach the correct clients within stipulated timeliness.
However, some social grant beneficiaries have expressed their concerns of not yet receiving their March 2023 payment, as beneficiaries rely on these funds on a monthly basis. When funds are delayed, it is difficult for beneficiaries to make ends meet.
The Postbank has emphasised that social grant recipients need not worry about their monies being withdrawn nor them being kicked off the system.
Should there be a technical problem at the South African Post Office (Sapo), in an interview, Postbank spokesperson Dr Bongani Diako has explained:
Recipients can access the money in other ways.
According to Diako, some of these ways include bank ATM’s and retail stores, namely Shoprite, USave, Boxer, Pick ‘n Pay and Checkers.
Fortunately, the majority of social grant beneficiaries use these options when they are making withdrawals of their payments every month.
Some Sassa grant beneficiaries continue to use Sapo branches that are located close to where they reside.
The Post Office also makes necessary arrangements to drive to areas that are furthest away from their branches to distribute social grants.
According to Diako, Postbank can only see if the money is available for individuals, but they cannot see reasons as to why or why funds are not available.
It is for this reason that people will need to directly contact Sassa for any enquiries that they might have.
This includes social grant recipients whose gold cards have expired. These recipients are required to collect their new card at a Sassa branch.
