Sassa cardholders urged to keep their cards safe

By now the general public knows what a South African Social Service Agency (Sassa) card is. People receiving social grants had until early 2013 to register for their Sassa payment cards.

This card, which can be used at any ATM as well as at Checkers, Shoprite and Pick n Pay, among others, has made life considerably easier for senior citizens and other beneficiaries.

One of the major reasons why it was created, was to inhibit scams and fraud. As with any other debit cards, owners were warned by the media that first and foremost, as with any other debit cards, they must keep the Sassa card and its PIN secure.

On Monday morning Barberton Times received a visit from a senior citizen, Collin Greed, who informed us that an unpleasant situation, regarding these cards, was now rearing its ugly head. While Greed was waiting in line at the Standard Bank ATM at Jock of the Bushveld Centre before 07:00, he encountered two men in front of him.

Greed said they were dressed in trendy business attire and were too young and healthy to be Sassa debit cardholders. They had several cards in their possession. “I counted them. The one guy had 20 and the other one 18,” said Greed. Another elderly woman who was also in line told Greed to draw money first as she apparently knew the drill and that it was going to take her a while.

Greed said he was 100 per cent certain these men were loan sharks. This publication spoke to another senior citizen, Carol Schnepel, who confirmed that this was not such a strange occurrence as she had witnessed the same scenario before.

Not only does this cause the elderly to stand in long queues while one person occupies the ATM using card after card to draw what appears to be loan money, but it is disturbing to know that social-grant beneficiaries make use of these high-interest financial services. Even more alarming is the fact that they seemingly hand their Sassa cards over to loan sharks.

Enquiries revealed that this Standard Bank ATM was the only one in town without 24-hour security. Schnepel said other ATM points luckily had guards who instructed these people to get out of the line so that the elderly could do their business first.

Although many members of the public struggle to make ends meet, which in many circumstances leads to them being forced to turn to loan sharks, this paper appeals to all Sassa cardholders not to hand your card over to anyone.

It is illegal for any person to lend you cash while withholding your identity documents or bank cards until the loan is paid back. Although it is reported on blacksash.org that the National Credit Regulator is ”cracking down on this illegal practice”, and even though the agency has in the past carried out many busts in this regard, it is also clear that not every matter is reported.

Barberton Times sent emails to at least four financial institutions in town, such as Standard Bank and FNB, to find out what their policy was regarding these incidents. We would also like to know why security guards were not reporting these incidents and if they were, what was being done about this.

We also request anyone who has witnessed an incident such as this to report it to the authorities immediately.