Phiwokuhle Mothemela
The head of SASSA in the Eastern Cape, Bandile Maqetuka, said he was confident that all beneficiaries would have migrated to the black Postbank cards by the 20 March deadline.
He was speaking at the briefing at Nyosi game reserve in Gqeberha on Tuesday, along with the MEC for Social Development, Bukiwe Fanta.
Maqetuka said of the 413 000 Sassa beneficiaries in the province, only 45 000 have migrated to the black Postbank card. However, he assured that systems are in place to ensure that all beneficiaries will get paid nonetheless.
"We are working with various stakeholders like municipalities, churches and civil society organisations. Everybody is on board because we want to make sure everybody gets their money," he said.
Maqetuka also reminded Sassa beneficiaries that grant payments will continue as per usual, even after the 20 March deadline.
However, those who have not exchanged their cards by then, will need to visit their nearest Post Office branch to access their funds.
"We don't want that situation. We want everybody to be migrated, either to a black card or a commercial bank of your choice.
"We have a constitutional responsibility to pay social grants, nobody else in the country, except Sassa," he said.
Meanwhile, MEC Fanta highlighted some of the challenges that her department is facing and how they are addressing these issues.
She said while they have made great strides in creating job opportunities for people of the province through skills development projects, there's still more to be done.
“We have a big drug issue and fatherless children in the province, therefore we are working on creating programs that speak to these issues,” says Fanta.
She also her department is working hard to address malnourished children and poverty in the country and will ensure that children receive their SASSA grants.
