Grants will continue to be paid

THE South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and the SA Post Office (Sapo) have said that beneficiaries would continue to receive their grant money on time every month.

“Media reports suggesting that the Post Office may not be able to process social grants payments are incorrect. We assure everyone that social grant payments to all the more than 11 million Sassa beneficiaries will not be disrupted,” read a joint statement.

The beneficiary funds are directly deposited into social grants beneficiaries’ accounts every month by Sassa, and Sapo is a distribution agent of the grants, which are deposited into the Postbank Sassa/ Sapo gold card accounts. These are opened and managed in accordance with the contract between Sassa and Sapo, it said.

“Social grant beneficiaries then have a choice as to where they wish to access the funds, and this may be through any bank ATMs, merchant point-of-sale devices, post offices or at one of the remaining Sassa cash pay points. The Sassa/Sapo gold card can also be used everywhere where Visa cards are accepted for the purchase of goods, as it is a fully fledged debit card. There is no requirement for Sapo funds to be used to pay grant beneficiaries.

“Therefore, media reports are inaccurate to state that beneficiaries might not get paid because of Sapo. The reports that Sapo is considering closing grant payments pay-points are also inaccurate and misleading,” it said.