Author: Marecia Damons

The South African Social Security Agency is piloting new systems in Bellville, including biometrics, self-service kiosks, and smarter queue management to reduce waiting times. Digital tools, such as facial recognition and e-Life certification, aim to prevent fraud and allow beneficiaries to apply for grants without visiting offices. While queues have improved, there are concerns about staffing, system glitches, and whether all beneficiaries will be able to navigate the new technology. Shorter queues, self-service kiosks and digital identity checks are among the changes the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) plans to rollout to offices across the country. On Thursday, SASSA…

Treasury, SASSA and the Department of Social Development are appealing a high court ruling that found several SRD grant regulations unconstitutional. These include the grant’s R370-a-month value, the income threshold and the online-only application system. Treasury says increasing the grant or expanding eligibility would be unaffordable, with cost estimates ranging from R70.6-billion to R139-billion a year. The SRD grant, introduced during the covid pandemic, has been extended to 31 March 2027. But the government insists it was never intended as a long-term poverty-alleviation grant. The Department of Social Development (DSD), South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and National Treasury have…

SASSA has extended its contract with Postbank by three months. The Master Services Agreement, which governs the payment of millions of grants, will remain in place while an Inter-Ministerial Committee considers the way forward. Postbank had sought to stop the termination and says the agreement’s continuation provides certainty for beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Black Sash has raised concerns about ongoing payment challenges and the impact on grant recipients if the issues are not resolved. The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has extended its Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Postbank by a further three months. “This is to allow the executive…

Postbank is asking the Pretoria High Court to stop SASSA from terminating its contract with the agency. The contract governs how Postbank pays grants to about three million beneficiaries. Postbank argues the termination is unlawful and will lead to new fees for beneficiaries. SASSA says Postbank has repeatedly failed to meet its obligations. The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and Postbank head to court on Thursday in a dispute over the termination of the Master Service Agreement (MSA) which governs how millions of social grants are paid each month. The case, to be heard in the High Court in…

The Reserve Bank has extended by 15 months the deadline for Postbank to replace SASSA Gold Cards with Black Cards. About 450,000 Gold Cards are still in use. Postbank must now issue a new, more secure Black Card, phase out all remaining Gold Cards, tighten security, and provide regular compliance reports to SARB. The Reserve Bank told Parliament social grant beneficiaries beneficiaries can continue using both Gold and Black Cards for now, and assured MPs that grants will not be disrupted. Postbank CEO Nikki Mbangashe said the bank had turned a R1-billion loss into a R106-million profit in 2024/25. The…

As of August 2024, more than 220 judgments were outstanding for more than six months, with the Johannesburg Labour Court, Pretoria High Court and Mahikeng High Court having the highest number of late judgments. The number of late judgments has more than doubled since 2019, when around 90 were recorded. Most of the increase has happened since 2021. The Department of Justice’s 2024 report said judges face extra pressure when they travel for circuit courts, as this reduces capacity at their main courts. As a result, many judges write their judgments in the evenings and on weekends. The Office of…

Treasury may withhold funds from the SA Social Security Agency’s (SASSA) budget if the conditions attached to its budget are not being met. SASSA has already started implementing Treasury’s conditions, flagging beneficiaries for in-person reviews if undisclosed income or potential identify fraud are detected. But MPs have raised concerns about payments delays and the burden it places on poor and rural households. About 45% of South Africa’s population receives social grants. National Treasury could withhold funds to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) if it finds that conditions attached to its budget allocation are not being met. SASSA CEO…

Postbank has not applied for a full banking licence, but says it is legally allowed to issue cards under the National Payment System Act. The Black Card rollout was abruptly suspended in April following a chaotic transition from the SASSA Gold Card. The Reserve Bank said the temporary suspension of the Black Card rollout was to enable Postbank to “embed additional controls” for the Black Cards. Postbank says the Black and Gold Cards remain valid, and it still intends to apply for a full banking licence. Following months of a nationwide push to get social grant beneficiaries to switch to…

Black Sash hosted a discussion this week on whether removing social grants in an economy with high unemployment would worsen poverty and hunger. Black Sash’s Rachel Bukasa and COSATU’s Tony Ehrenreich argued that grants are a vital safety net amid job scarcity, rejecting claims that they breed dependency. Political economist Phumlani Majozi raised concerns about the fiscal sustainability of the grant system and criticised government’s lack of clear plans for economic growth and job creation. South Africa’s economy is not creating enough jobs, so what happens to the millions of people who currently rely on social grants? This was the…

The government has started a review of the social grant payment system, hoping to fix long-running problems that have affected the lives of millions of people. This was revealed during a meeting on Monday between government officials, academics and civil society groups who for years have been advocating for the rights of South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) beneficiaries. About 28-million people receive grants every month. The plan is to re-examine the Master Service Agreement and Service Level Agreement between SASSA, the SA Post Office (SAPO), and Postbank. These agreements have guided grant payments since 2018, when SAPO became SASSA’s…

The Auditor-General issued the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) a qualified audit opinion for 2023/24, citing poor internal controls and nearly R1-billion in underspent grant funds. Grant delays were mainly caused by vacancies and weaknesses in grant processing and oversight. The audit revealed repeated non-compliance, unachieved performance targets, asset mismanagement and failure to investigate irregular expenditure. Three material irregularities were flagged, including millions lost in incomplete or undelivered projects. The Auditor-General of South Africa has urged the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) to urgently tighten its internal controls. For the 2023/24 financial year, the Auditor-General issued the NLC with a qualified audit,…

Retired judge Anton Van Zyl has handed down a judgment in a matter more than 12 years after it was reserved. The matter was reserved in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, KwaZulu-Natal division on 12 December 2012. It was the longest outstanding judgment across all South African courts. According to the judicial norms and standards gazette in 2014, judgments in both civil and criminal matters should usually not be reserved without a date for when judgment will be handed down. Saving for exceptional cases where it is not possible to do so, every effort must be made to hand down judgments…

The Department of Social Development (DSD) is proposing changes to its Social Assistance Act, which includes removing the questions about income in the application of the R370-Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. The proposed amendments are open for public comment until Monday, 14 April. The grant is available to people who get less than R625 per month, with the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) conducting monthly checks on applicants’ bank accounts to ensure they continue to meet this criterion. At present, people who apply for the SRD grant for the first time are required to answer questions about their current income…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has blamed delays in death registrations and system limitations for its payment of R140-million in social grants to about 75,000 deceased beneficiaries. On Wednesday, SASSA presented its audit action plan to Parliament’s portfolio committee on social development, following a financially unqualified opinion by the Auditor-General for 2023/24. SASSA Chief Financial Officer Tsakeriwa Chauke explained that the issue stemmed from the timing of payment processing. At the end of each month, SASSA prepares payment files for the next month. But some beneficiaries may pass away between when the payment file is generated and when…

Postbank and SASSA are racing against the 20 March deadline to replace 1.4 million expiring Gold Cards. In the Western Cape, more than 190,000 people still need to replace their cards with the new Black Cards. SASSA also said it is addressing long queues and staff shortages at its offices, while exploring doctor-initiated assessments to reduce office visits for disability grant applicants. The Agency also announced plans to implement biometric verification for all Social Relief of Distress grant beneficiaries to mitigate fraud and ensure the correct recipients are receiving grants. Postbank and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) are…

The grant, introduced during the Covid lockdown, was intended to be a short-term solution for millions of people. The current extension of the SRD grant will end on 31 March 2026. In January, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled that regulations limiting access to the SRD grant were unconstitutional and invalid. The court also ordered the government to increase both the grant amount and the income threshold to qualify. Speaking to the portfolio committee on social development last Wednesday, advocate Luyanda Mtshotshisa, representing the department, told MPs that the government had appealed against the judgment they believe to be “flawed”. The…

More than two-million social grant beneficiaries still need to switch to the new Postbank Black Card, with the deadline recently extended from 28 February to 20 March. To speed up the process, Postbank has partnered with the Spar Group to add 200 service sites and trained tellers. Postbank aims to complete the transition by 30 June. More than two-million social grant beneficiaries still need to switch from the SASSA/Postbank Gold Card to the Black Card. This is according to Postbank CEO Nikki Mbengashe. Addressing Parliament’s social development committee on Tuesday, Mbengashe provided updates on the card swap process and measures…

SASSA has announced the suspension of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant to beneficiaries suspected of fraud. Such beneficiaries are expected to verify their identities on SASSA’s Electronic Know Your Client system. But this system has also been suspended, leaving legitimate beneficiaries in the lurch. The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is to suspend payments to beneficiaries of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant who are suspected of fraud. But the verification system has also been suspended, so beneficiaries who are suspected of fraud won’t be able to prove their identity. This means legitimate beneficiaries…

The pre-trial conference in the Thabo Bester escape case has been postponed to 24 July. Bester’s lawyers said they had difficulties with consulting him due to travel issues, and withdrew as his legal representatives. Bester complained about confidentiality issues when consulting with an attorney, accessing legal documents, prison conditions, and being handcuffed during court appearances The pre-trial for Thabo Bester, Nandipha Magudumana and seven co-accused was again unable to get underway at the Free State High Court on Wednesday. Bester, serving a life sentence for two counts of rape and one count of murder, escaped from the Manguang Correctional Centre…