The “technical challenges” that prevented thousands of Sassa beneficiaries from withdrawing their social grants have been cleared up, according to the agency.
However, not all beneficiaries will have immediate access to the grant.
Posbank said on Wednesday that beneficiaries using Sassagold cards will have “immediate access” to the money. However, the money can only be withdrawn from ATMs and post offices.
“Posbank’s technical team is working to make Sassa transactions at retailers possible again,” says Dr. Bongani Diako, spokesperson for Posbank.
“There are still occasional challenges with transactions done by retailers.”
Those who tried to withdraw their allowances, but could not do so because the system indicated that it had already been withdrawn, will have to wait another day for the allowance.
“The process to reverse the transactions on accounts that were debited yesterday (Tuesday) due to a system error is currently underway,” says Diako.
“Beneficiaries who have been trying to make withdrawals since yesterday are requested to give this process a chance before attempting any further transactions. It is expected that the money will reappear in all beneficiaries’ accounts within the next 24 hours.”
According to Posbank, the technical challenges experienced in the past few days are an “isolated incident” and that they are in no way related to the validity of Sassagold cards.
“Sassa gold cards remain valid as a means of accessing social grant, despite the expiry date appearing on the cards,” she says.
“These cards remain valid until Posbank can replace the cards within the period granted by the Reserve Bank.”
‘Apologies’ not good enough
However, political parties lashed out at Posbank over its “apologies” which did nothing when “children went to bed hungry because their relatives did not receive their money”.
Rise Mzansi says Posbank’s half-baked excuses about the technical challenges are simply not good enough.
“Many people had to watch for small, hungry faces because they could not put food on the table,” says Esther Padi, national coordinator of Rise Mzanzi.
RNews reported earlier that a resident of eMalahleni (Witbank), who herself relies on a meager state pension she receives monthly through Sassa, saw people crying in post offices over failed transactions.
Meanwhile, the DA encouraged beneficiaries to turn their backs on Posbank and instead open bank accounts with “reliable banks that will not leave them stranded and without access to their money”.
“It is also time for the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, to show leadership and call Posbank to account for its continued failure to assist Sassa beneficiaries.”
