Another deadline push for SASSA and Postbank

The deadline to replace South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) Gold Cards has once again been extended, this time to 31 May 2025. 

Yesterday, 28 March 2025, Postbank’s CEO made the announcement. This comes after the 20 March deadline for the replacement of cards came and went, with thousands of grant beneficiaries still having to migrate to Postbank Black cards. 

We have been asked by many members of the public whether the announcement is true because of all the confusion that has marred this process over the past weeks. People simply do not know what to believe anymore. This is why, as per our commitment to assisting wherever we can, we are trying to get the correct information out to the public, despite neither SASSA nor Postbank falling under the responsibility of the Western Cape Government.

According to Postbank, beneficiaries will now be able to continue using their gold cards until 31 May. Through the course of April and May they can either change to the Postbank Black Cards or change the payment method at a SASSA office to a bank of their choice. Those with gold cards have been asked not to go to a Post Office to withdraw their grants. 

We urge residents not to wait. Please make the change as soon as possible, to avoid added pressure on the system.

We also urge Postbank to step up its communication, and this is something we will continuously tell the management as well. Yesterday’s announcement has not been shared widely or effectively, hence people contacting us for clarity.

This week I visited several community outreaches Postbank conducted in the Overberg region of the Western Cape. I saw very few people at some sites, because the broader community was not aware of the outreaches. The roving teams were even doing home visits to assist some beneficiaries to make the card switch. People are not aware of these outreaches because the communication has been subpar. We have been sharing information that has been made available to us from Postbank on social media, but we require more information earlier. 

Next week we will be meeting with SASSA and Postbank, where we will once again try to pressure them into stepping up their game. We know there are staff on the ground working extremely hard to help vulnerable residents. But we also know there are a myriad problems that could have been avoided had proper planning gone into this process. 

We remain committed to assisting however we can, but we are getting frustrated with the flipflopping by national entities that are mandated to serve the most vulnerable. We urge them to do better and step up their game.