Sassa aids stranded grant beneficiaries
Grant recipients are urged not to panic and should note that Sassa is working closely with FNB to ensure that all its beneficiaries receive their grants.
Social grant beneficiaries who are clients of Ithala Bank will be paid.
This comes after the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) teamed up with FNB to pay over 65 000 social assistance beneficiaries whose accounts were frozen.
These included beneficiaries of old age, Covid-19 social relief of distress grants, child support, disability, care dependency, and foster care grants.
Operations at Ithala were suspended after a provisional liquidation application was filed against the bank by the Prudential Authority (PA) of the South African Reserve Bank in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Sassa’s provincial spokesperson, Sandy Godlwana, said the National Treasury contacted the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) to find support from its members, particularly for social grant beneficiaries.
She said BASA contacted its member banks to identify one or more institutions capable of swiftly opening new accounts for all grant beneficiaries banking at Ithala.
“National Treasury informed Sassa that in the interim, out of all the banks approached by BASA, FNB offered emergency assistance to open accounts to facilitate payment for Sassa clients who bank at Ithala. Sassa and FNB have successfully collaborated to ensure that all Ithala clients who have not yet been able to open a new bank account will receive an account with FNB in the interim until the clients are afforded an opportunity to provide Sassa with the details of their preferred bank,” said Godlwana.
She added that the process is estimated to conclude after three months.
Godlwana said it was important to note that Sassa was not advocating nor promoting FNB as a bank of choice for grant beneficiaries; however, they appreciate its ability and willingness as a participant in the National Payment System (NPS) to step in to provide emergency assistance.
She explained that over the next three months, all clients will have a choice to change to their preferred bank, saying that the agency will ensure that sufficient resources are available to support clients.
She said beneficiaries will need their identity documents to collect their cards.
“Only Covid-19 social relief of distress beneficiaries could be affected by this unexpected change, said Godlwana. She added that they anticipate that their grant payments could be delayed, but a special payment run will happen as soon as possible to remedy it.
“We urge beneficiaries not to panic during this period. Sassa is working closely with FNB and all the relevant stakeholders to ensure that all beneficiaries receive their grants. Sassa and FNB will host joint outreaches in more rural areas to limit any inconveniences for clients,” she said.
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