Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe has assured social grant beneficiaries that her department, in collaboration with the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), is working tirelessly to resolve any challenges they may encounter while swapping their SASSA Gold Cards for the new Postbank Black Cards.
In a video posted by SASSA on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday, Tolashe reaffirmed the government's commitment to ensuring an efficient and secure social security system for all beneficiaries.
“As a department of Social Development and SASSA, we want to assure you that our commitment to provide efficient social security system is still our top priority. We are doing everything in our power to resolve all the concerns and difficulties that you have,” she said.
The Minister emphasised that efforts are being made to assist all beneficiaries using the SASSA Gold Card before its expiry on 20 March 2025. She urged recipients to replace their cards with the Postbank Black Card, or switch to a bank of their choice to avoid any disruptions in receiving their grants.
“We are working tirelessly to ensure that all our beneficiaries currently using the SASSA Gold Card are assisted speedily, efficiently and with dignity,” Tolashe stated.
She also reassured beneficiaries that the department is strengthening and monitoring its systems to prevent cyberattacks and safeguard personal information.
“Despite the challenges that we face today, we care about your wellbeing, and it is our responsibility to serve you with dignity and respect, as we continue to pay the right social grant to the right person at the right time and place, always,” she said.
To ensure that no one is left behind and all beneficiaries that need to replace their cards are reached, Postbank announced in a statement on 27 February 2025 that it has increased the number of tellers servicing all the existing sites across the country.
Postbank has also added more places to replace cards. Postbank black cards can be obtained from select outlets of major retailers that include Pick n Pay, Boxer, Usave, Shoprite and Checkers.
In addition, Postbank has started rolling out Spar stores nationwide to replace cards, providing an additional 234 places for beneficiaries to get cards.
A shortened USSD number which beneficiaries can use to look up sites has been introduced to improve their customer experience. To look up sites, beneficiaries can follow this process:
- Dial *120*355#
- Reply with (1) to continue
- Reply with the province number (numbers 1 to 9 representing all provinces)
- Reply with the number of the municipality. Then all the card replacement sites under that municipality will appear. - SAnews.gov.za
