The agency and two million clients are in a race against time to complete the 2025 SASSA Postbank migration. The ‘impossible’ South African Social Security Agency deadline to switch gold cards to black falls this week, on Thursday 20 March 2025deadline.
However, acting SASSA CEO Themba Matlou said the following at a hastily arranged press briefing: “Outreach programmes will continue beyond this week’s deadline. We want to ensure that we assist as many people as possible to ensure that they are not inconvenienced in the April 2025 pay run and beyond.”
2025 SASSA POSTBANK MIGRATION
Better still, a new intervention was also announced by the acting CEO to assist the elderly and disabled. “Working with Postbank, we have come up with a plant to do home visits to assist those who cannot reach various card replacement sites. We will continue to intensify this process even beyond 20 March if clients have not yet migrated by then,” said Matlou.
However, all of this could have been avoided with better service and longer warning to SASSA beneficiaries. Last month, Deputy Minister for Digital Communications, Mondli Gungubele, even labelled the task as ‘impossible’. Nevertheless, to secure a booking for a home visit, you can call:
- Postbank customer care: 0800 60 10 11
- Postbank call centre: 0800 53 54 55
SASSA HOUSE CALLS
Rather quizzically, you can also make an appointment for a house call in-person at any SASSA branch/office. However, this will surely be just as inconvenient and negate the need for a SASSA house call in the first place. The agency wishes to note that a minimum criterion must be met to qualify for a SASSA home visit:
- You must have an illness that has rendered you incapacitated.
- Or have an incapacitating disability.
- Also, you must produce a note from a medical doctor, social worker or a clinical medical report confirming the illness that has rendered you incapacitated.
Out of approximately 3-million Postbank clients, 2 million still need to migrate their accounts. Since the start of the card-swap, only 1-million accounts have been secured (33.3% completion). Once again, the whole idea of the 2025 SASSA Postbank migration was to upgrade to a black card with extra security features, following nemerous bad Postbank audits in the past.
YOUR ACCOUNT WILL NOT BE FROZEN
Nevertheless, if you cannot be assisted before the deadline, your SASSA account will not be frozen or suspended. April 2025’s payment increases will go ahead. But you will simply be unable to draw upon your grant monies with the old gold card.
However, you can visit a participating South African Post Office (SAPO) branch to draw money. Beyond that, you will still be able to swap/collect new black cards into April. Except numerous readers say the issue is long queues, slow service and systems offline. Therefore, we strongly urge clients to get in touch with the agency if they are not assisted:
- SASSA toll-free line: 0800 601 011
- WhatsApp SASSA: 082 046 8553.
- Call the Head Office of SASSA: 012 400 2322
- Email SASSA: grantsenquiries@sassa.gov.za
- Or email: president@presidency.gov.za
Remember, the agency can never stop paying your SASSA grant without reviewing your account. If the agency does choose to review your SASSA account, you must receive an official letter of request giving you three months’ notice. SASSA officials will look for the following:
- Whether your financial circumstances have changed since your application.
- If you failed to co-operate with an official during questioning/review.
- You committed any form of fraud or misrepresented yourself/your finances in the application.
- If you’re absent from the country and don’t collect your welfare money for three consecutive months.
HAVE YOU COMPLETED THE SASSA CARD SWAP?
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1.
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