Sassa grant payouts hit by Postbank IT malfunction

Social grants beneficiaries across the country were left frustrated and in despair after their funds were stalled for days by Postbank’s malfunctioning payment system.

Hundreds of Sassa grant recipients queued outside Postbank offices and Sassa branches in the hope of getting their monthly funds this week, but many went home empty-handed and angry. This was, according to the Postbank, because of a system migration fault that saw withdrawals being declined at ATMs and retail shops. 

This led to chaos at some pay points with struggling and fatigued elderly and sickly people. Most of the affected were the elderly who were meant to receive their grant on Tuesday and also the physically disabled whose grants were due on Wednesday. 

Queen Malinga who arrived at the Postbank in Kliptown, Soweto, said she had been standing outside Postbank since 6am waiting to get her funds but she had not received them by the afternoon. 

“Yesterday [Tuesday], we queued here from 6am to 2pm and not being told anything and now we are back again, waiting in line for this money. Why are they changing things? This is frustrating,” said Malinga.

Stella Makhubu, 77, went to Pick n’ Pay in Diepkloof, Soweto,  to collect her old age grant but was also not successful.

“I have grandchildren who are waiting for me to bring something home, waiting for me to eat and I have been waiting here at Pick n’ Pay trying to get my money,” she said.

In Tshwane, Pat Zungu, 80, had to borrow R50 to board a taxi from Mamelodi to the Pretoria CBD to inquire about his grant which he could not withdraw the previous day. He left his disabled wife, 78, at home and had hoped that his visit to the Sassa office yesterday would sort out their grant payment issues. 

Postbank said the problem would be fixed by the end of Wednesday. 

Spokesperson Bongani Diako said the migration was likely the problem as there had been no issues since February. 

He said he did not know how may of their 5-million beneficiaries had been affected.

“The glitch is an IT issue on our end. Postbank is in the process of migrating into a new and more compliant banking system. We were moving from the Post Office environment which has been found not to be on par with the best industry practice. We have asked our IT team to look into the possibility that this glitch could have been caused by the migration into the new environment,” said Diako.  

Elizabeth Raiters, deputy chair at #PayTheGrants, said they were aware of the delays and have been trying to get information from both Sassa and Postbank.

Kelle Howson, senior researcher at Institute of Economic Justice, said Postbank needed to be understanding of the plight of the beneficiaries and have to improve their capacity and be rational in dealing with the problems.

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