Durban — Postbank has implemented a manual process to reverse funds into the affected beneficiaries’ accounts, which will allow grant recipients to receive their monies, Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele said on Thursday.
This is after thousands of social grant beneficiaries were left frustrated last week after their funds were stalled by Postbank’s new malfunctioning payment system.
Gungubele and Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu were updating the media about the social grants debacle.
Gungubele explained that the breakdown was caused by a system migration fault. This saw withdrawals being declined at ATMs and retail shops.
“We would like to confirm to South Africa that the majority of these accounts have been corrected.
“Clients have since been able to access their money.
“Postbank has completed more than 500 000 fund reversals to date, and the affected beneficiaries have gotten their social grants payments,” Gungubele stated.
The ministers apologised to the social grants beneficiaries who experienced delays in their grants payments.
Evashnee Naidu, Social Justice Black Sash KZN regional manager, said that the delays had caused pain and suffering to many households in KZN province.
“This has been so bad that some of the people have had to sleep over at the payment site.
“This is because they did not have the money to travel back home.
“We are asking both of these ministers to put an independent enquiry in place,” Naidu added.
Elders’ Voice KZN founder, Joanne Herbst, said that as an organisation they were suffering because of this debacle.
“Utilities have also not been paid in full as such yet.
“We have not been able to buy food for our people because we depend on their pension payments.
“How can you take a frail, elderly person to a bank?
“They have even asked the people to email their ID copies and their Sassa card copies.
“How can they expect a rural granny to know all these things? Sassa has failed the elderly and millions of other people dismally,” Herbst said.
Gogo Dolly Zungu, of Illovo, said that she didn’t know what she and her grandchildren were going to eat. She said she struggled to get payment of her old age pension.
“We have no food at home. I don’t know what we are going to eat if this problem is not resolved soon,” said Gogo Zungu.
KZN Sassa spokesperson Sandy Godlwana said the problem was caused by the old, gold card that had technical glitches. She said that beneficiaries were told to have the cards changed. Either that, or they were asked to use their different banks instead.
“Clients using the Sassa Postbank gold card could not make withdrawals or transact at ATMs and various retailers.”
Due to the impasse, Postbank’s entire board resigned with immediate effect. They cited interference and disrespect from Minister Zulu, and other external factors.
They accused the minister of hostile and oppressive behaviour.
This, they said, made it impossible for them to continue disbursing their duties until the end of their term in 2025.
Postbank CEO Nikki Mbengashe apologised for the problem caused.
She said that as a person who had an elderly mother, she understood exactly what the affected grant beneficiaries have had to go through because of these technical glitches.
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