Malatsi explains Sassa card switch extension

JOHANNESBURG - According to a media statement released by the Ministers of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi and Social Development, Nokuzola Tolashe the deadline for SASSA beneficiaries to transition to new cards has been extended to 20 March.

SASSA beneficiaries have voiced frustration over the card migration process as they struggle to exchange their Gold cards for the new Black Postbank cards.

READ: Sassa extends cards deadline to March

The statement read, "We would like to emphasise that grant payments will continue as per usual, even after the 20th of March deadline. If beneficiaries haven't exchanged their cards by then, their grants will still be paid, but they will need to visit their nearest Post Office branch to access their funds."

"To make sure that we are able to assist beneficiaries to swop their cards as efficiently as possible, our departments and entities are working together to add more human capacity and are working with retailers to increase the number of sites across the country."

"Mobile offices will also be dispatched to focus on rural areas and to ensure that we assist as many people as possible."

Malatsi spoke with eNCA's Gareth Edwards about the switch.

Malatsi said, "the reality is that there was a surge in the last 10 to 14 days as people were realising the deadline is approaching. And that surge is probably that caught us off guard."

"The campaign and the efforts have been going on for as long as last year July and in between that time, December and early January: the take-up has been slow. And I think you can attribute that to different things."

"There has been aggressive awareness in terms of radio ads, community engagement but it just seemed that it wasn't leading to an increase in number of people who were actually switching their cards."