Social grants payments will proceed as scheduled this May, with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) confirming that Postbank’s decision to discontinue certain services at Post Office branches will have no impact on eligible beneficiaries.
Payments to go ahead as planned
The agency on Sunday moved to ease beneficiary concerns following Postbank’s announcement that it will discontinue a number of services at Post Office branches across the country.
Sassa added that the change in working arrangements between Postbank and the Post Office will not disrupt the May payment cycle.
CEO Themba Matlou confirmed that preparations are on track.
“As per the norm in our payment system, on Tuesday, we are starting with Older Persons followed by Disability on Wednesday, and then we round off with Children’s grant,” said Matlou.
“We then implement what we call the 4th payment day which may be some beneficiaries who may could not received their grants on their usual dates due to our stringent social grant reviews processes.”
Matlou added that the agency is committed to ensuring that no qualifying beneficiary is left worse off due to administrative changes, whether internal or involving partner institutions.
Sassa systems designed to protect beneficiaries
Beyond the immediate payment cycle, Sassa said its systems are built to absorb disruptions and shield beneficiaries from operational changes that happen behind the scenes.
“The way our systems work currently, they are intended to safeguard the interests of our important beneficiaries to ensure that they do not bear the brunt should there be any changes in working arrangements that we have with our partners,” Matlou said.
He further stressed that the agency is actively working to strengthen the integrity of its operations.
“We are deliberate in our attempts to improve how Sassa works, to the betterment of service provision to our people. Moreso, to ensure that our systems are not susceptible to fraudulent elements inside and outside of our organisation,” he said.
Online self-service portal gains ground amid ongoing reviews
Sassa is also continuing with its social grants review processes to verify beneficiary eligibility.
The agency said it introduced an online self-service platform, eLife Certification, which allows beneficiaries to complete their verification from home, reducing the need to visit Sassa offices in person.
“On eLife Certification, we call on those with means to do them online, not to come to our offices as it is a self-service.”
Matlou called on beneficiaries to respond promptly when asked to undergo a review.
“We call on our beneficiaries to heed the call when we ask them to undergo a social grant review process by coming to their nearest offices,” he said.
