The North West Legislature Portfolio Committee on Health and Social Development has expressed concern over what it reports to be the high number of social grant beneficiaries who are opting to receive their payments through personal bank accounts.
This emerged from its oversight meeting with the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and the Department of Social Development, where the committee discovered that about 43 945 beneficiaries are opting to receive their money via direct bank payments, bypassing both the traditional SASSA gold cards and the Postbank black cards.
The meeting was held to assess the ongoing migration of SASSA gold cards to Postbank black cards.
Committee Chairperson Karabo Magagane cautioned that bank charges might impact the value of the grants.
“These beneficiaries may not realise that they’re losing money to transaction fees and service charges funds that are meant to support their most basic needs,” Magagane remarked.
Another concern that came to the attention of the committee was that of an additional R10 fee for every R100 withdrawal charged by local tuck shops when beneficiaries access their grants.
The committee is concerned that this further reduces the money they receive.
In addition, Magagane believes the choice of using personal banks for grant payments may be because of many beneficiaries especially the elderly, residing far from Postbank branches or unable to travel long distance.
The Chairperson committed to ramping up awareness campaigns regarding the issues, to ensure that no beneficiary is left behind and that they have adequate understanding of the decisions they take.
Magagane concluded by calling for calm from those who are yet to migrate to Postbank black cards and reminded them that their gold cards will continue to be in operation beyond the May 31st deadline.
