Pretoria - As the first stage of re-registering all social grant beneficiaries kicks off today, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has urged beneficiaries not to panic, assuring them that their grants will be paid.
More than 15 million social grant beneficiaries in the country are to be re-registered for their grants, with the first phase targeting the re-registration of Sekulula clients and new approved applicants, starting on 1 March 2012.
Sekulula refers to a debit-card based transactional account that allows government grant recipients access to grants electronically at ATMs or point-of-sale devices.
SASSA explained that during the process, the beneficiaries will be issued with a temporary SASSA branded biometric magstripe card.
The second stage will start on 1 June 2012, where a permanent SASSA branded biometric magstripe card will be issued. During the second phase - from 1 June to 31 December - existing eligible beneficiaries, including bank beneficiaries and children, will be enrolled on the new biometric-based payment system at SASSA pay points, local offices and designated sites.
SASSA CEO Virginia Petersen has encouraged Sekulula cardholders to re-register from 1 March 2012 to 25 March 2012.
"This will go a long way in ensuring that come 1 April 2012, when the new service provider for the payment of social grants comes on board, that beneficiaries will still receive their grants without any interruption to service delivery," said Petersen.
She stressed that Sekulula beneficiaries must re-register at identified registration sites, and bring along South African bar-coded identity documents and their current Sekulula cards to registration sites.
SASSA will, however, conduct home visits during this period to accommodate beneficiaries over 75 years of age and bedridden beneficiaries at institutions such as hospitals.
"We will then swap their Sekulula card with a SASSA branded smart card after taking their 1-finger biometric," explained Petersen.
The move to re-register the beneficiaries was announced at the Social Protection and Community Development Cluster briefing in mid-February, and forms part of SASSA's bid to rid the system of corruption and ensure that social grants are paid to the right people.
With the new system, beneficiaries will be able to use their smart card anywhere in the country.
"For many beneficiaries, this will be a dream come true... The system will allow the right person to be paid the right amount and be enrolled within close proximity of the communities where they live," said Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini during a briefing on the re-registration last month.
Beneficiaries of the child support grant will be required to bring their babies, along with their birth certificates for re-registration. The child's fingerprints will be taken to verify his or her identity.
Dlamini warned that apart from the child's birth certificate and fingerprints, there were no other ways of verifying the child's identity. The department will be working with the Home Affairs Department to check and confirm if the child belongs to the mother.
Currently, South Africa has about 15.6 million social grant beneficiaries and the number is expected to grow to 16.8 million in three years. More than 10 million of these are children.
Last month, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said spending on social assistance will rise sharply in the next three years from R111.2 billion this year to a projected R129 billion in 2015.
As from April, old age pensioners will get R1 200, while foster care grants increase by R30 to R770 and the child support grant to R280.
Gordhan suggested that the increases may need to be reassessed if inflation continued to rise.
