There will be no delay in the issuing of social grants to tens of millions of South Africans this week, government is expected to confirm on Monday.
This follows delayed payments of pensions last month that many of the 4-million recipients depend upon for their daily bread.
Both social development minister Lindiwe Zulu and the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) confirmed to Business Day on Sunday that a range of interventions had been put in place to prevent any further delayed payments.
This includes the Reserve Bank roping in Standard Bank to help with the technical challenges experienced in September, said Brenton van Vrede, the executive manager of grants administration at Sassa.
“We don’t foresee any challenges. I cannot put my head on the block but we are confident. The biggest challenge is the slowness in which Postbank responded. We are constantly engaging from minister level to a technical level and it looks like we should be able to push higher volumes,” Van Vrede said.
Zulu said the big challenge is the closure of so many SA Post Office sites. “I said to Sassa they need to look at alternatives. We cannot keep pointing fingers. The constitutional obligation sits with us. We need to be creative and acknowledge the dynamics of the day including technological aspects,” she said.
Many state functions have collapsed over the past decade. But the monthly social grant payment system, despite glitches, has largely worked since the advent of democracy in 1994. Last month’s delayed payment of some social grants signals the underperformance of Postbank and the Post Office, both state-owned enterprises.
Every month the government spends more than R22bn on social grants, about 17% of tax revenue.
Most payments are to 13-million children, each receiving R500 a month. Nearly 4-million older people receive R2,080 a month. A further 1-million people with disabilities receive the same amount. More recently about 8.5-million people have been receiving the R350 a month social relief of distress grant.
According to a presentation by Sassa to parliament in May, this is how people receive their payments:
- Post Office/Sassa card — 35% of beneficiaries
- Postbank card — 11%
- Other bank cards (paid into accounts by Postbank) — 52%
- Post Office — less than 1%
- Cash Pay points — 1%
Almost half of Sassa and Postbank cardholders were affected by last month’s technical glitches.
Sassa has said if this happens again beneficiaries can contact the Postbank call centre at 0800 53 54 55 or send a WhatsApp to 073 806 1631. /With GroundUp
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.