Cape Town — The Democratic Alliance (DA) has said the extension of the deadline for SASSA beneficiaries to move from SASSA Gold Cards to Postbank Black Cards was still not enough time.
The new deadline set is 20 March 2025, having been extended from 28 February 2025. Many SASSA beneficiaries were under increasing pressure to make the switch as they were told, that once the deadline passed, the gold card would no longer be valid for transactions and balances.
In a statement, the DA said that while the extension was welcomed, it was nowhere near enough time to ensure all SASSA beneficiaries made the switch seamlessly and the extension just highlighted the deeper issues that affect social grant beneficiaries.
“The truth is that this deadline extension, which is just weeks away, will do little to ease the considerable frustrations, confusion, and access barriers many beneficiaries encounter,” DA Deputy Spokesperson on Social Development Alexandra Abrahams said.
Abrahams said many beneficiaries rely on their Gold Cards and their efforts to make the switch to the Black Cards have been hampered by SASSA’s inability to ensure that Postbank outlets and retailers have enough staff and cards on hand to make the switch.
🚨 SASSA’s gold-to-black card deadline extension to 20 March 2025 isn’t enough to address the deeper systemic failures as millions still rely on gold cards. The DA demands all gold cards remain active until every beneficiary has transitioned.https://t.co/bmm57sqbDY
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) February 14, 2025
The DA questioned how some beneficiaries, who will not have the Black Cards and can go to a Post Office, will be able to do so as Post Offices are closing down and many are from rural areas where this are no nearby Post Offices.
Abrahams said the issues highlighted SASSA’s poor planning to execute the plan and transition and said an extension of the Gold Cards without addressing the underlying issue only prolongs the frustrations.
“The DA emphasises that the responsibility for this crisis lies squarely with SASSA. Despite multiple extensions, this is not the first instance where social grant beneficiaries have been negatively impacted by the card swap,” Abrahams said.
She said it was troubling that SASSA had so much time to prepare for the rollout of the new cards but only realised the need for mobile offices now as the solutions could have been implemented a while ago.
“The DA once again calls on SASSA to extend all SASSA gold cards until every social grant beneficiary in need of a Postbank black card has received one. It is the only way to ensure that social grant beneficiaries can reliably access their grants,” she concluded.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
