Sassa and its new card debacle
The urgency to swap Sassa/ CPS cards by 30 September is creating long, tiresome queues and difficulties for many South Africans.
The ‘gold card rush’ is bringing millions of South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries to selected, dedicated venues throughout the country, in a bid to swap their Sassa/ Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) cards for the new Sassa/ South African Post Office (Sapo) gold cards.
Unfortunately, the gold card rush is not marked by the ‘buoyant feeling’ of the 19th century major gold rush frenzy in South Africa.
The urgency to swap Sassa/ CPS cards by 30 September is creating long, tiresome queues and difficulties for many South Africans. Sassa beneficiaries are therefore queuing from the early hours of the morning, braving the cold, thirst and hunger pangs.
“The rush to swap Sassa cards developed after Sassa awarded the contract to Sapo as a service provider. The current contract with CPS ends on 30 September,” said Mogale City councillor Sharon Govindasamy.
She said a stakeholders’ meeting was held at the Sassa office in Krugersdorp to indicate how critical it was for grant beneficiaries to understand the process and urgency to swap their cards.
“Information disseminated during the meeting pointed to processes and timeframes that need to be adhered to in order for the card change-over to run smoothly and efficiently. If beneficiaries don’t want to take up the option of changing to the gold card, they may opt to use a bank of their choice. The procedure to follow would require beneficiaries to complete an Annexure C from a bank or a Sassa office, attach a copy of their Identity Document and a 3-month bank statement and present these at a Sassa office or other dedicated venue for this purpose.
“It was specified that Sassa would not be using the bank statements to inspect the banking status of the beneficiaries, therefore they should not be afraid to divulge the banking information requested.”
It is imperative that all funds be withdrawn from the Sassa/ CPS cards before the end of August to avoid the tedious process of CPS having to transfer funds to Sapo.
“If beneficiaries change their cards before the cut-off date, which is 20 August, they will receive their grant on 1 September on the new gold card. If the card swap is carried out after 20 August, they will receive their grant on 1 September on the old Sassa/ CPS card.
The Sassa/ Sapo gold card will therefore officially come into effect on 1 September. It is hoped that all South Africans who have access to the social grants will be happy with the new card as it has many benefits and policies in place to protect the beneficiary from unwanted withdrawals.”
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