Durban - Despite claims by Postbank that all outstanding South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant payments to recipients have been made, concerns have been raised that a “glitch” in its system that left thousands of beneficiaries without access to their social grants, has not been rectified.
In a statement issued by Postbank spokesperson Dr Bongani Diako, according to Postbank records all outstanding South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant payments to recipients that were affected by the "system incident" of September 5 and 6 have been made.
Minister of Communication and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele last week said Postbank had provided an assurance that the migration system challenges that led to the crisis had been resolved.
Political commentator Dr Ebrahim Harvey said that making Postbank the official partner to take over social grant payments had created the crisis.
“Postbank was formed in the demise of the Post Office, and the ANC messed up that entity through mismanagement and rampant corruption. These issues strike at the heart of the Constitution and the rights within it,” Harvey said.
He said the poorest grant recipients in the country had been severely affected by the grant payment failure.
“Three weeks later, this issue is still a concern and we are two or three months away from the festive season. What is going to happen … there are obvious implications that we may very well find that these grant problems carry into December.”
Human rights organisation Black Sash said it was still assisting beneficiaries who had not been able to access their September grant payments.