Postbank has assured Sassa beneficiaries that social grants will be paid on time in October.
This, after it met with the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Department of Communications on Thursday, to discuss various matters pertaining to the inaccessibility of social grants by some recipients last month.
In a statement issued by the SAHRC, Postbank indicated that the bank was in a continuous process of upgrading or modernising its system.
SAHRC spokesperson Wisani Baloyi said the bank had migrated to a new switching system on August 21, 2023.
"This system, despite being tested before going live, experienced problems on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of September 2023. The auto-reversal system was then replaced, and the system appeared to be operating without further glitches.
“Postbank further indicated that they had assisted all of their clients who were unable to access their funds during the relevant days, through communication, hotline service and back-office manual processes.
“Postbank assured the commission that all the 491 744 persons who were impacted by the banking interface glitch have since September 10 gained access to their social grant funds,” said Baloyi.
He added that the bank assured the commission that it did not expect any issues with the October 2023 payment cycle, and took precautionary measures through its service vendors to have technicians on standby and ensure a quick response time should any problems be experienced.
“The commission for its part indicated that it would closely monitor the October social grant payment cycle to the various categories of beneficiaries, including pensioners, persons with disabilities and minor children,” he added.
Cape Times