About 1.9m People Still Need To Swap Gold Cards As Sassa Deadline Looms

The deadline for the transition from the SASSA Gold Card to the Black Card is looming. Archive photo: Marecia Damons / GroundUp

• About 1.9-million Sassa Gold Card holders still need to switch to the Postbank Black Card before the 20 March deadline.
• Postbank has admitted that completing the process on time is “impossible”, and the switch may be extended yet again.
• Concerns about service delays, rural access, and long queues have prompted calls for an extension.

Postbank has acknowledged that completing the transition from the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) Gold Card to Postbank’s Black Card before the fast-approaching 20 March deadline is unlikely. At the end of February, 1.9-million beneficiaries still needed to switch, but Postbank has said it has no intention of extending the deadline.

On Tuesday, Postbank and Sassa officials briefed the Western Cape legislature’s standing committee on social development on progress on the card swap.

Committee chairperson Wendy Kaizer-Philander (DA) highlighted concerns over the confusion and long queues that grant beneficiaries have encountered. “Over the recent months, the committee has witnessed, with concern, the desperation and uncertainty from Sassa beneficiaries who are waiting in long queues with no clarity, trying to meet the deadline for the migration of the Gold Cards to Postbank Black Cards.”

She said committee members had been “bombarded” by callers “seeking clarity and help” because they feared losing access to their grants if they did not get the new card in time.

Mondli Gungubele, Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, noted Postbank’s challenges in meeting the deadline.

“We are trying to move at a pace where all beneficiaries receive the Black Card by the end of March, but that’s become clearly impossible. We’re doing our best,” Gungubele explained.

Biometric verification delays

When beneficiaries collect their cards, they must follow a biometric verification process through the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). However, the DHA system is not always functioning, causing delays in the card-swapping process. When the system works, swapping cards takes only three to five minutes. But when the system is down, beneficiaries must wait longer, Gungubele said.

Committee members expressed concern over the lack of service sites in rural areas and outside urban areas. They also asked whether Postbank would consider extending the deadline.

Eurekha Singh, Postbank’s chief operating officer, said, “There is no intention to extend the deadline. That is not within our control, so the card replacement must be completed by 31 March. We’ve set a deadline of 20 March because we must submit evidence to the Reserve Bank that the Gold Cards are out of circulation by 31 March.”

Singh clarified that after the 20 March deadline, beneficiaries will still be able to access their grants through the Post Office and through cardless cash withdrawals at retailers.

Ruwaan Deokaran, overseeing the card-switching process in the Western Cape, said there will be 27 distribution points in the province. As of the end of February, 880,266 Black Cards had been issued nationally, while 1,971,632 beneficiaries still needed to switch their cards — a 31% uptake rate. In the Western Cape, 322,919 people use the Sassa Gold Card. Of these, 77,932 have received their new cards, while 244,987 people still need to swap.

Extended hours

Postbank in the Western Cape is issuing over 3,500 cards per day to meet the target of 322,919 cards. He said that by mid-April, they expected to have issued all the cards, and the number of active sites would increase to 49 within three weeks.

Sassa’s Western Cape acting regional manager, Sibusiso Nhlangothi, said the province is prioritising the card switch by extending office hours.

Nhlangothi noted that at least 26 outreach days are planned to take place in Laingsburg Thusong Centre, Nelspoort, Beaufort West, Prince Albert, Murraysburg, Matjiesfontein, Vleiland, and Leeu-Gamka.

Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Jaco Londt, met Postbank management on 3 March to discuss the transition. He also raised concerns about the lack of service points in the province and staffing issues, including resignations due to security threats, which have further slowed the process. “We made it clear that many of these problems could have been prevented if there had been collaboration between SASSA, Postbank, and other role-players.”

He urged beneficiaries to consider alternative payment methods, such as direct deposits into personal bank accounts.

This article was originally published on GroundUp.

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