Thousands of pensioners have again gone home empty-handed after their monthly Sassa grants could not be paid at ATMs or Postbanks on Thursday.
Today marks day three of a stressful ordeal for many elderly people who have been struggling since Tuesday to collect their pensions.
Grant payouts have been affected by a technical challenge that started on Tuesday and ran into Wednesday, and although the situation has been remedied, a backlog has left many old people unable to access their pensions.
Former Cape Town deputy major Gawa Samuels, who was today present at the Kuilsrivier Post Office where hundreds of pensioners were again turned away after trying to collect their pensions, says the situation is “terrible”.
“The majority of these Sassa pensioners have still not been paid, yet they have been going to the Post Office every day. They are informed that Sassa only allocates a certain amount of money each day to be paid out.”
She says they are then told to go home and come back the next day, but even then, the money runs out and they again leave empty-handed.
“A lot of these pensioners are poor people. They have no money and no food at home. Every day they come back and they leave with nothing. It has been three days now.”
When Samuels was at the Post Office at about 1:30pm on Thursday, about 160 pensioners were unable to be paid.
“Shoprite is also entitled to pay out but the queues (at the Kuilsrivier store) were so long that people are going to be there until late. And whether they get the money before the shop closes, we don’t know.”
The situation was the same at the Blue Downs Shoprite, she says.
Sassa pensioner Aleweya Abarder, 80, was fortunate enough to have received her pension today after trying since Tuesday, but this was not without struggle. She had attempted to withdraw her pension from an Absa ATM at Kenilworth Centre but was informed that no funds were available in her Sassa account. Meanwhile, she estimates that more than 1,000 pensioners were queueing at the ATMs, Checkers, and Pick ‘n Pay.
“Checkers and Pick ‘n Pay had given people seats while they waited but the people were standing in queues at the ATMs.
“I tried to draw my pension from three different ATMs but they all told me there were no funds available.”
After the Kenilworth Centre Spar ATM delivered the same message, Abarder says the manager assisted her and her husband with their pension payouts. The money was obviously available in the card, but the ATMs were not registering this.
“We were still fortunate to have children who could help us while we have not been able to get our money, but what about the people who don’t?”
Meanwhile, Postbank spokesman Dr Bongani Diako says its grants payments system has been stable since being restored yesterday, but due to backlogs, some Sassa grant recipients, including pensioners, will have to wait until tomorrow to get their money.
“The technical challenge that impacted us on Tuesday and early morning on Wednesday has unfortunately caused a backlog of the reversals funds into beneficiary accounts that the Postbank teams are busy crediting. This funds reversal backlog mainly affected some beneficiaries who were impacted by transaction time-outs while attempting to withdraw their Sassa money on Tuesday and early parts of Wednesday when the old age grants and disability grants were being paid.
“When these transactions timed out, unfortunately the funds weren’t automatically reversed into the affected beneficiaries’ accounts. The processing of the reversals of funds into the affected accounts started yesterday and it’s proceeding.”
Whilst some beneficiaries that were part of the accounts backlog requiring reversals of funds into their accounts have already accessed their money, he says all Sassa grants beneficiaries that were affected by transaction failures on Tuesday and Wednesday – predominantly the Old Age Grants recipients and the Disability Grants Recipients, are requested to only come forward to withdraw their social grants money on Friday.
At this stage all account corrections will be up to date and their money will be available through the ATM’s, retailers and Post Office branches, he says.
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