Beneficiaries with old Sassa cards can only use ATMs or retailers

August 1 marked a historic milestone for the partnership between the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and South African Post Office (SAPO) regarding the payment of social grants.

This was the first day SAPO piloted the takeover of cash payments of social grants at pay points, a function previously performed by Cash Payment Services (CPS). This comes at the back of technical glitches that were experienced during the July payment cycle.

“The August payment cycle went without any major incidents in all of yesterday’s pilot sites spread throughout all nine provinces. SAPO made 100% cash payments at all its pilot sites,” said Susan Shabangu, Minister of Social Development.

The system has been optimised to the extent that it can handle the number of transactions in conformity with the standards of the banking industry. This is the single most significant reason why there were no glitches in spite of the system being under immense pressure.

A few incidents were experienced where beneficiaries with new SASSA card holders attempted to collect their grant monies at pay points but were redirected to ATMs and participating merchants. Beneficiaries are made aware that the new SASSA card functions the same way as any bank card with a PIN and does not make use of biometrics as a method of verification.

Beneficiaries who previously used a PIN to access their grants using the old SASSA card are requested to collect their grants from ATMs and retailers. As from today (Thursday) this category of beneficiaries will no longer be served at pay points because the pay point use finger prints as a method of verification.

The new card also allows for three free cash withdrawals at points of sale, one free withdrawal at the post office a month, free swipes at points of sale and it is accepted by all ATMs displaying the VISA sign.

Beneficiaries with queries can contact SASSA toll free on 0800 60 10 11 or inbox SASSA on social media