The short answer
Yes, everyone with a SASSA Gold Card needs to replace it with a Postbank Black Card, but you do not need to rush to replace it, unless so instructed by Postbank.
The whole question
Dear Athalie
Postbank has provided a list of retail outlets where pensioners can go collect their new Black Cards. To access this list, you must call *120*218*3#. The outlets are mostly Pick 'n Pay and Boxer stores, but some of these stores are no longer open. In some areas the elderly have to travel a long distance to get there.
Postbank also provided a telephone number for people who need more assistance (0800 53 54 55) but there is no answer. The line just cuts out.
There are cardholders whose Gold Cards expired in 2023 but they can still withdraw their grants. My Gold Card shows it expires in 2027 – do I really need to collect a Black Card?
I don't know what to do. No telephone number works, and no response to our questions on Facebook. Postbank's advice is so vague, people are running in circles, trying to determine what the correct procedure is.
The long answer
It has certainly been most confusing. Postbank has said that as of December 2024, the Black Card rollout is underway in four provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Northern Cape, and North West, but it is still far from clear exactly how this “rollout” will work.
What does seem clear though, is that everyone will have to replace their SASSA Gold Cards with the Postbank Black Cards, regardless of the expiry dates on the Gold Cards. But Postbank and SASSA emphasised that the transition to the new cards will be gradual and that no one has to rush to replace them, unless so instructed by Postbank.
SASSA is now saying that a pensioner’s Gold Card will remain valid until the pensioner has replaced it with the Postbank Black Card. The latest news that I have been able to find is that the Gold Cards will not be expiring on 31 December 2024 as had been announced previously.
It seems that many pensioners had already struggled to access their social grant payments on the Gold Cards through Postbank. GroundUp reported on 15 October 2024 that when Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe was addressing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Social Development, some MPs had called for an urgent meeting with Postbank and the Reserve Bank to sort out “persistent” issues with accessing social grant payments through Postbank.
An ANC MP, a Mr Munyai, said that Postbank was the culprit: he said that the Auditor-General’s report indicated that some Postbank officials were stealing funds intended for social grant beneficiaries. He wanted Postbank to appear before the committee to explain the issues with the Gold Cards. He also called for SASSA and the Department of Social Development (DSD) to communicate more clearly so that people knew what was going on.
A DA MP, a Ms Abrahams, questioned why the DSD had signed a service-level agreement (SLA) with Postbank in 2022 in the first place, when it was already clear that Postbank was in financial trouble. She said the DA had warned against signing the SLA with Postbank, but the DSD and SASSA had gone ahead and signed it.
So, it’s far from a simple issue, and it will probably take some time and trouble to be sorted out. Bongani Diako, the spokesman for Postbank, has said that people with Gold Cards who live in areas where Black Cards have not yet been issued need not be concerned as their Gold Cards would continue to work until they were issued with new Black Cards.
To sum up, for now it seems that you can continue to use your Gold Card until it has been made clear that you can collect your Black Card in a way that does not involve great inconvenience.
Wishing you the best,
Athalie
Answered on Dec. 4, 2024, 10:06 a.m.
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