Sassa gold cards deactivated from today

DESPITE today’s deadline for South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) gold cards to be swapped to black Postbank cards.

The Sassa gold cards will be deactivated from today, but social grants will still be paid to the cardholder's account. Beneficiaries, with gold cards, would have to go into the post office with their identity document (ID) to collect their grants.

The beneficiaries would also not be able to use the Sassa gold cards to make any transaction, even if they had funds in their account.

Nikki Mbengashe, chief executive officer of Postbank, said after today, beneficiaries would not be able to use Sassa gold cards to buy or withdraw cash inside stores. 

“Retailers would not accept the cards for any transactions, and any attempts will result in automatic system transaction declines. Beneficiaries would also not be able to use Sassa gold cards at any ATM. The Sassa gold may be swallowed when inserted in any ATM to attempt a transaction,” Mbengashe said.

Social grant beneficiaries may still replace their Sassa gold cards with Postbank black cards on and after the deadline today.

“March 20 was not a cut-off date for when Postbank stops replacing Sassa gold cards. Postbank will continue replacing Sassa gold cards with new Postbank black cards in all its card replacement sites, even after this date.  To prepare for the next grant payments that are scheduled for 3 to 5 April 2025, Sassa and Postbank encourage beneficiaries to make extra efforts to use the period between now and the payment dates to get their black cards,” Mbengashe said. 

Themba Matlou, chief executive officer of Sassa, said: “We will continue to intensify this process even beyond the March 20 deadline if people have not migrated by then. Our outreach programmes will also continue beyond the March 20 deadline as we want to ensure that we assist as many people as possible to ensure that they are not inconvenienced in the April pay run and beyond. Working with Postbank, as Sassa, we want to assure our beneficiaries in all corners of the country that social assistance will continue, and everyone will be paid as per the norm.”

For enquiries or assistance, beneficiaries can call Sassa’s toll-free customer care number on 0800 601 011 or e-mail GrantEnquiries@sassa.gov.za