SASSA Gold Card expiry: Department highlights concerns

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has issued a final urgent notice to all grant beneficiaries, urging them to switch from gold cards to the new Postbank black cards by 28 February 2025. Failure to upgrade will result in beneficiaries losing access to their SASSA grant payments. However, the Western Cape Department of Social Development has raised concerns after receiving numerous queries.

Will SASSA extend the gold card expiry deadline?

Postbank is urging beneficiaries to act now in upgrading their cards to avoid the last-minute rush. The upgrade is free of charge.

All existing SASSA gold cards will become invalid on 28 February 2025. This is regardless of the expiry date on the card. This means that even if your gold card appears to be valid beyond this date, it will no longer function after the deadline.

SASSA is transitioning to a more secure and efficient payment system, and the new Postbank black cards are a crucial part of this modernisation. They are phasing out older cards to protect beneficiaries from potential fraud and to streamline the grant disbursement process.

However, the Western Cape Department of Social Development has raised serious concerns.

Western Cape Department raises concerns

Since the announcement, the Western Cape Government has received numerous queries and complaints from across the province about the upgrade.

The Western Cape Department of Social Development tried the various contact details provided by SASSA and Postbank themselves and experienced great difficulties.

Monique Mortlock-Malgas from the Department stated that the Postbank number was not functional when they tried it. Also, when they dialed *120*218*3# and followed the prompts, it gave a list of all the Western Cape sites where people can get their Postbank Black Cards. However, most of these sites are in the Cape Town Metro. She said that this is unacceptable as it leaves thousands of beneficiaries without accessible options, especially those in rural areas.

Beneficiaries can also have their grants paid into their bank accounts. However, this option is not viable for many beneficiaries such as elderly residents or those living in abject poverty. Mortlock-Malgas emphasised that SASSA, Postbank, and the National Department of Social Development must urgently find a solution to ensure grant beneficiaries living in rural areas are also accommodated in the card transitioning process. She stated that more service points are needed and that the SASSA gold card expiry deadline should be extended until that happens. She has raised these concerns with the Western Cape SASSA management.