Card migration deadline looms, Postbank silent

In less than a week the deadline arrives for SASSA grant beneficiaries to move away from the SASSA Gold Cards. And while the migration process from the Gold Cards to the Postbank Black Cards will continue, we are concerned about the panic that will ensue given the chaos we’ve seen over the last month.

On 03 March 2025 I met with Postbank’s management, in which we seemingly reached a cordial agreement that my office would assist with some of the issues they’d been experiencing in the Western Cape. We agreed to this despite Postbank being a national entity and not falling under the power of the Western Cape Government.

Since that meeting however, Postbank has, ignored the commitments that were made that day:

• They have not provided us with updates on the operational service points so we could communicate this to the public.
• They have not invited us to their meetings with SASSA.
• They have not provided us with the necessary information so we can assist them with recruitment of staff to work at card replacement service points.
• They have not provided us with updates on the conversion rate of the card migration (how many Western Cape beneficiaries still need to replace their cards)

I am deeply disappointed that what I thought would be a fruitful working relationship that would benefit vulnerable residents has not continued. We had agreed to work together for the benefit of the thousands of Western Cape SASSA grant beneficiaries who need to be kept abreast of developments, but it seems that agreement was one-sided.

We have heard of people having issues using these Postbank Black Cards, like not being able to withdraw grant money with these cards. We have raised these and many other issues with Postbank.

While Postbank says beneficiaries with Gold Cards can do cardless withdrawals after the 20 March deadline, we want to encourage these residents to consider another option: to have grants paid into their bank accounts. If this option is more feasible, I will advise them to go to their nearest SASSA office to make this change.

Meanwhile, SASSA – another national entity – held a media briefing in Cape Town on 13 March 2025. We have worked hard to establish a good working relationship, despite challenges and I must thank SASSA Western Cape for providing us with the figures that Postbank has failed to provide: 

As of 12 March, thus far 102 680 SASSA Gold Cards have been replaced in the province; 190 735 cards still need to be replaced; and 28 631 beneficiaries have opted to move to other banks. Furthermore, approximately 18 000 forms for beneficiaries to migrate to other banks have been submitted to SASSA and they have indicated that it will be captured timeously.

Nationally, over 1.4 million cards must still be replaced.

Postbank has shown it cannot be trusted to deal with the immense responsibility of dealing with the grant disbursements. The shambolic card migration process is evidence of this. Our offer stands to assist Postbank however we can for the benefit of vulnerable residents, but they will need to step up.  

In the meantime, I applaud the tremendous work being done by public representatives, organisations, volunteers, and banking institutions to help beneficiaries open their own bank accounts and submit forms to SASSA.  I want to encourage you to ramp up this work so that no Western Cape beneficiaries are missed in the card migration process.