THE replacement of gold Sassa cards is an inconvenience that comes with challenges for many elderly people who are forced to stand for hours in queues.

What’s more, the places where people can apply for the new cards have no toilet facilities nor enough chairs.

Last month, the deadline to switch to the black card was extended from February 28 to March 20, following frustrations expressed by a number of social grant beneficiaries about the replacement of these cards.

In the Highway area, beneficiaries can replace their cards only in Pinetown.

Also read: Sassa extends deadline for gold card replacement

Last week, the Highway Mail spoke to the people queuing outside Shoprite. Linda Coetzee, a Hillcrest resident who accompanied her mother, said they arrived at 06:00 and the queue moved very slowly.

“The people working are doing what they can but there is very few of them. This is our second time here, when we came on the first day, the queues were longer than this and we had no option but to try another day,” she said.

Another Upper Highway resident, who also brought his mother, said it was their fourth day trying to replace the card with no luck as the queues were long.

“There are some very old people here who come from the valleys, they are not even given priority, it is sad. There has to be means to open up more sites where people can have their replacement cards done.”

A Hammarsdale resident who had to wake up at dawn to go to Pinetown to reserve a space for an elderly relative also shared the same sentiments of priority.

“My aunt has high blood pressure, suffers from arthritis and is diabetic, she can not sit for a long time, let alone stand, she needs to lie down.”

Postbank spokesperson, Bongani Diako, said they are aware of the queues in some of their card distribution sites, which are regrettable and caused mainly by larger numbers of beneficiaries responding to the calls to collect new cards following the announcement.

Also read: Has your car been damaged by a pothole? Submit a claim

“Postbank is increasing the number of sites nationally to ease up the queues as well as increasing the number of tellers in the existing sites from two tellers, to up to three to five tellers, depending on the busyness of the site.”

Diako mentioned that the replacement of cards will continue even after March 20 to ensure that no one is left behind.

“All social grant beneficiaries will continue to be paid their grants after the 20 March deadline, even those that may not have replaced their cards before the deadline.

“Social grant beneficiaries that may have missed the deadline will be paid via alternative payment methods that will include through the ID inside a Post Office and via a cardless method that enables them to access cash over the till inside the retailers,” he said.

For more from the Highway Mail, follow us on Facebook , X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.

Click to subscribe to our newsletter here