Dear Editor
Yesterday morning, the Democratic Alliance seized the opportunity to propose an addition to the agenda of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee meeting on Social Development. The topic was to address the ongoing crisis regarding the transition of all SASSA gold cards to Post Bank black cards before the looming February deadline.
This proposed addition to the agenda was unanimously supported by all committee members.
The DA further calls on the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to extend all SASSA gold cards until every social grant beneficiary in need of a Postbank black card has received one.
The DA has been inundated with concerns and complaints from SASSA grant recipients struggling to switch to the Postbank black card and worried that they might not receive their grants.
As highlighted to SASSA in committee yesterday, this is not a new crisis. The switch from SASSA gold cards to Postbank black cards has been a continuous project with multiple extensions of the gold cards.
It is therefore concerning that despite the continued calls for and granting of extensions, SASSA seems to have learned no lessons to navigate this crisis of their own making.
In the Western Cape, SASSA has only established 12 collection sites, none of which are in the west region and severely lacking in rural areas. Nationwide, there has been few to none home visits to assist those beneficiaries with mobility or other issues. And beneficiaries have been sent from pillar to post, with very little assistance, guidance, or correct information from SASSA or the Postbank.
In fact, the DA has been advising SASSA beneficiaries to switch to reputable banks to receive their funds and alleviate the strain on the Postbank, but even this has been fumbled by SASSA.
SASSA has reportedly been unable to deal with the number of requests to switch to reliable banks. This failure has resulted in a backlog that SASSA seems unable to deal with and which are forcing grant beneficiaries to continue to use either their soon-to-be expired SASSA gold cards or attempt the switch to Postbank black cards.
An extension to the deadline will provide SASSA an opportunity to capture and process this backlog.
And while SASSA has indicated to the committee that they’re busy negotiating an extension of the gold cards, this situation should have been anticipated, negotiated, and resolved long before the middle of the month in which the cards are set to expire.
While the DA also commends SASSA’s efforts to train officials to assist with the switch to Postbank black cards, such interventions should have been employed months ago. SASSA is dropping the ball, while the vulnerable and poor people who rely on social grants for survival are suffering.
Regards
Alexandra Abrahams MP
DA Deputy Spokesperson on Social Development
Mad Rascal
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