Social-grant beneficiaries who did not replace their SASSA gold cards by the 31 August deadline will still have grants paid into their accounts, but they may be unable to access the money with the old card until they complete the Postbank black-card migration.
The September payment cycle starts on Wednesday with older persons’ grants, followed by disability grants on Thursday and children’s grants on Friday.
Postbank said before the deadline that replacement sites would remain open for beneficiaries who still need to migrate. The new card works once issued and funds held in the beneficiary’s account remain available after the switch.
KwaZulu-Natal had the largest outstanding provincial group before the deadline, with about 20,000 beneficiaries still needing to replace their cards, according to reporting by East Coast Radio and eNCA. Nationally, Postbank reported that more than 1.8 million beneficiaries had moved to black cards and more than 80% of the targeted migrations had been completed.
The gold-card deadline affects the method used to access grant funds, not the underlying eligibility for a grant. SAnews reported on Monday that payments would continue to be credited to beneficiaries’ accounts even where the old card could no longer be used.
Postbank’s July notice said beneficiaries could locate a replacement site by dialling *120*355# from a mobile phone. Its sites were listed as operating from 09:00 to 17:00 on weekdays, with additional weekend operations announced ahead of the deadline.
Beneficiaries changing to a private bank account follow a different process from those collecting a Postbank black card. A change of payment method generally requires the relevant SASSA form and an account in the beneficiary’s own name.
Postbank and SASSA have urged affected beneficiaries to use official channels and avoid handing identity documents, cards or PINs to unauthorised intermediaries.
