POLOKWANE – The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) announced last week that the deadline for replacement of the Postbank Gold Card by the recently introduced black card, has been indefinitely postponed, giving beneficiaries who had to face queues from early in the morning only to return the next day, a breather.
According to the agency, roughly 102 000 people have switched to Postbank Black Cards, while over 44 000 have changed to banks. More than 174 000 people still have gold cards and it became evident that it was impossible to meet the previous deadlines due to limited resources offered at the service points. In the city, only one service point was available at Shoprite Checkers.
Just before the announcement of the postponement, Sassa acting CEO Themba Matlou hosted a media briefing at Fusion Boutique Hotel to appease the media on Sassa’s motto of “Paying the right grant, to the right person, at the right time and place”.
Matlou said that the stringent financial controls implemented by Sassa are gradually and consistently bearing the required fruit that will enable the agency to efficiently and effectively administer and distribute social grants to millions of its beneficiaries.
“In its 2023/24 Audit Action Plan Progress Report presented to the Portfolio Committee on Social Development in Parliament recently, Sassa portrayed an organisation that is pulling out all the stops to remedy the past. From the 2018/19 financial year, Sassa has unswervingly achieved unqualified audit outcomes, albeit with material findings from the Auditor General South Africa. Through collective efforts and the will to turn the tide, Sassa has deservedly experienced a sizable decline in irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure over the years,” Matlou said.
“We want to take the Sassa brand to greater heights and the road towards that journey starts with how we manage our affairs and the public money that we are entrusted with. We need to be prudent in our financial expenditure and we are steadily moving towards that”, he stressed. Matlou emphasised that it is not all doom and gloom at Sassa as some of the issues in the environment are because of external factors that directly affect the agency, but his organisation is intent on facing all the challenges that come through head-on.
“Sassa serves the most vulnerable people in our society, and we will continue to take counsel from the Auditor General, National Treasury and our mother body, the Department of Social Development at all material times in line with government efforts to eradicate hunger and Sustainable Development Goals”, stressed Matlou.
Matlou also spoke of the amount of effort put in place by officials in turning things around, thus restoring the integrity of the agency. He, however, acknowledged that more still needs to be done and that all hands are needed on deck to turn Sassa into a leading social assistance entity.
