The South African Reserve Financial institution (SARB) has suspended the rollout of Postbank’s new black South African Social Safety Company (SASSA fee card), throwing the distribution of month-to-month social grants to over 28 million beneficiaries into uncertainty.

The brand new playing cards have been meant to exchange the ageing gold playing cards utilized by SASSA grant recipients, one in every of Africa’s largest social welfare programmes. The transition to black playing cards, issued by state-owned Postbank, was a part of the federal government’s plans to reinforce safety and modernise the fee system. 

On Tuesday,  SASSA confirmed that the issuance of Postbank’s black card has been suspended, urging beneficiaries who haven’t but acquired their playing cards to think about opening accounts with different banks of their option to proceed receiving funds.

“The Sarb instructed Postbank, with the steerage of Sassa, to make sure that beneficiaries who haven’t but migrated to the black playing cards can use their gold playing cards and obtain their grants and that there’s minimal disruption whereas they’re shifting to different sources, corresponding to their financial institution of selection,” mentioned Bridget Masango, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Growth. 

Administrative inefficiencies, fraud, and infrastructure challenges have dogged South Africa’s grant system. Earlier makes an attempt to digitise companies and scale back reliance on bodily service factors haven’t yielded a lot, with many beneficiaries expressing mistrust in digital platforms and preferring in-person help.

The cardboard transition programme was a key a part of Sassa’s modernisation efforts.  The SARB’s directive has not been detailed, and the central financial institution and Postbank have failed to supply a transparent timeline for when card issuance will resume.

“SASSA stays hopeful that each one beneficiaries will proceed to obtain their funds. We additionally wish to emphasise that beneficiaries have the precise to decide on any financial institution of their choice. They’ll go to their nearest SASSA native workplace for help if wanted,” mentioned Paseka Letsatsi, Sassa spokesperson.

Regardless of Sassa’s assurance, many beneficiaries, notably in rural areas, might be affected by lengthy queues, restricted entry to financial institution branches, and inconsistent communication from officers.