Over 400 000 gold Sassa cards still not migrated

SOCIAL Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe expressed frustration with the process to migrate grant beneficiaries from South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) gold cards to Postbank-issued black cards, saying more than 400 000 beneficiaries have yet to undergo the process.  

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) had granted the Postbank a 15-month extension after it failed to meet the conditions of the Designation Notice, which now prevents the bank from issuing new cards.

The SARB on Tuesday briefed the Social Development portfolio committee on the impact of the expiry of SASSA and Postbank Master Service Agreement at the end of September 2025. 

After the Constitutional Court ended Sassa’s contract with Cash Paymaster Services in 2018, Sassa entered into a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with the South African Post Office.

However, according to Sassa, as the agreement with Postbank no longer served its purpose, they decided to terminate it, citing its contractual right to do so.

The total amount to be disbursed through Postbank monthly is R3 billion. 

The total number of payments made to grant beneficiaries banking with Postbank is 1.96 million grant beneficiaries and 1.08 million COVID SRD beneficiaries (around 3 million in total).

During the briefing Tuesday, Tolashe said: “What will it mean to have three cards running concurrently financially? (I am) asking SARB, out of frustration. We want to find a solution. 453 000 cards have not yet been replaced. How will we be able to make sure Postbank is paying the right people but not ghost (beneficiaries)?” 

She cited a case where Sassa had to spend around R20 million to mitigate a disaster when it was discovered cards were working parallel. 

Tolashe lamented that interventions by SARB fell short of fully addressing the underlying issues.

“I am unfortunately still worried but give it to the SARB (that) this time they will be able to monitor the implementation so we don't get to where we were on the day I don't want to remember.”

She would not elaborate further on tensions between Sassa and Postbank, as the latter had taken them to court, she said.

SARB head of the National Payment System Department, Tim Masela said: “Sassa grant recipients are still able to use their Gold Cards, despite the indefinite suspension of Postbank’s card replacement process. Grant recipients will not be adversely affected while we concurrently try to find solutions that are fully compliant.”

Postbank was issued with a designation notice by SARB in 2020 “to enable more effective risk identification and monitoring”. 

According to the regulator, they deemed it necessary to vary the conditions of Postbank’s Designation Notice, after a cryptographic security breach at Postbank and fraud perpetuated on the Postbank SASSA Gold Cards.

Masela said fraud linked to the compromise of the payment key was now under control, although incidents involving rogue Postbank or Sassa employees could still occur.

"The system is in a good space in terms of observation. We will intervene if safety, efficiency and integrity is involved."

Cape Times