SASSA payments: How many times have there been ‘glitches’ with Postbank?

26-million people in South Africa depend on social grants. Every month the South African government spends over R22-billion on these grants, which makes up about 17% of tax revenue.

Many state functions have collapsed over the last decade, but the social grant payment system has largely worked, every single month since the advent of democracy.

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Yet ‘glitches’ and delays in social grant payments are becoming commonplace and there are concerns that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government is not prioritising this welfare system.

According to GroundUp, last week was the fourth system failure since the Postbank took over grant payments in October last year. No clear reason has been provided for the latest failure, other than it was a ‘glitch’.

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Last Monday, pensioners reported that they were unable to access their grants. By Wednesday, Postbank said the issue with ATMs was resolved but issues with withdrawals through retailers were not.

Many beneficiaries trying to withdraw their grant money went from ATM to ATM. This resulted in numerous reversal instructions at the banks, which further delayed payments.

Some people were still trying to get their grant money this past Monday morning.

Crunching the SASSA numbers

The vast majority of grant payments are to 13-million children, each receiving R500 per month. Nearly four-million older people receive R2,080 per month.

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A further one-million people with disabilities receive the same amount. More recently, about 8.5-million people have been receiving the R350 per month Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant.

According to a presentation by SASSA to Parliament in May 2023, this is how people receive their payments:

SAPO/SASSA Card – 35% of beneficiaries
Post Bank Card – 11% of beneficiaries
Other Bank Cards (paid into accounts by Post Bank) – 52% of beneficiaries
Post Office – less than 1% of beneficiaries
Cash Paypoints – 1% of beneficiaries

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SASSA and Postbank cardholders, almost half of beneficiaries, were affected by this latest glitch.

From the start Black Sash expressed skepticism about the Post Office’s capacity and infrastructure to pay grants. The social grant system helps reduce mass hunger, and likely prevents food riots and rebellion.

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