Postbank, SASSA urged to step up efforts in assisting grant beneficiaries to update payment cards
This comes as the Alberton City Shopping Centre has been overwhelmed with grant recipients desperate to update their cards and beat the deadline.
SASSA beneficiaries queued outside Alberton Shopping Centre on 13 February 2025 to update their gold cards to the new Postbank black card. Picture: Thandoluhle Ngcobo/EWN
JOHANNESBURG - Management at the Alberton City Shopping Centre is calling on Postbank and SASSA to step up efforts to assist beneficiaries update their grant payment cards.
This comes as the shopping centre east of Johannesburg has been overwhelmed with grant recipients desperate to update their cards and beat the deadline.
Centre management said that while it had tried to assist beneficiaries swiftly, the situation remains challenging without the necessary manpower from Postbank.
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The new payment system has been in effect since October last year, however, most beneficiaries are frantically trying to comply at the last hour.
The overwhelmed Alberton City Shopping Centre said that an average of 800 to 1,000 beneficiaries visited the centre daily for assistance, however, there was only capacity to help 150 per day.
Winding queues is SASSA beneficiaries outside Alberton Shopping Centre, who are here to update their Gold Cards to the new PostBank Black Card. pic.twitter.com/rmz31P7NmX
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) February 13, 2025
To mitigate the situation, the centre moved queues to its undercover parking area, providing additional seating, extra security and refreshments where possible to ensure uninterrupted operations continue for the rest of the centre.
Marketing manager at the centre, Lenita Chuna, said they were not informed about the process or advised to make provisions for the influx.