SASSA beneficiaries given final lifeline

THOUSANDS of social grant beneficiaries who failed to meet the 14 December deadline of changing over to the new gold SASSA cards, have been urged to visit their nearest SASSA offices without delay to apply for their new cards. SASSA Acting CEO, Abraham Mahlangu, said that in terms of the arrangement that SASSA made with the South African Post Office and its banking partner, grants will not be available on the old expired cards from this month. ‘All affected beneficiaries must visit SASSA offices with their ID books and collect their new cards to enable them to collect their January grants. ‘We had to put our heads together to come up with a working solution because social assistance is a constitutional right. We couldn’t deny our beneficiaries their rights because of a technicality, so we just had to cut the red tape and make it happen. ‘We also want to urge our beneficiaries to respond to our messages on time in future,’ said Mahlangu. He said beneficiaries who collect their grants through private bank accounts do not need to get the new SASSA card as they will continue to receive their grants through their bank accounts. ‘The new SASSA card does not allow deductions to go through and beneficiaries can also enjoy benefits such as one free withdrawal at post offices per month and free balance enquiries at stores with point of sale machines,’ he said. He reminded SASSA beneficiaries to keep their PIN numbers secret and not to respond to suspicious offers made on social media. ‘Beneficiaries should enquire on 0800 60 10 11 if they are unsure about any messages they receive, particularly on their phones,’ he added.