Durban - A NUMBER of pensioners who receive their grants through their banks were panicking when their funds had not come through by midday yesterday.
However, SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) spokesperson Sandy Godlwana assured grant recipients that the funds were released after 3pm yesterday. She said there was a payment system glitch, resulting in some beneficiaries not being able to access their grants.
A Durban pensioner said he had not received his grant and was sure other people were in the same boat.
He had read a report, on April 19, that Sassa would pay yesterday and it was already noon when he called the Daily News, as he had not received his pension.
“I checked with my bank and pension money hasn’t been paid,” he said.
Another pensioner, from Port Shepstone, said he had been waiting to receive the payment SMS and waited outside an ATM, since 6am yesterday, to withdraw his pension.
“I don’t know what’s going on and we know that it’s the elderly and disabled getting their grants - but out of 10 people, only one or two received their pensions,” he said.
“We’re hungry and we don’t know what we’ll eat. We called Sassa but no one answered the phone.”
He said he made the switch as soon as his bank started accepting Sassa beneficiaries and had been getting his payments through his bank for more than a year.
“I really needed this grant because I wanted to go to the doctor, but now I don’t know what to do,” he said.
If he did not get his payment between 2pm and 3pm, he would head home, a return trip of R40.
Black Sash KZN regional manager Evashnee Naidu said they had been contacted by beneficiaries across KZN, who had not received their grants despite the date being pushed to May 4.
“It seems that there has been a challenge with the payment file, which has left some beneficiaries without access to their grants.
“We are hoping that this can be rectified on Monday or, at least, by first thing on Tuesday morning. However, the challenge experienced by beneficiaries is that many of them may have borrowed money to travel to pay sites, may be in desperate need of food and leaving empty-handed will produce a great strain and burden on these already over-stretched households,” she said.
“We also hope that Sassa can resolve this matter speedily, so that there is not a knock-on effect on beneficiaries due to be paid on May 6.”
Godlwana assured grant recipients that the funds would be released by yesterday afternoon and accessible from today.
“Clients using South African Post Office Sassa cards can go to their nearest Post Office to get their grants, as manual payments can be done at these outlets,” she said.
She apologised to all beneficiaries for the inconvenience caused by the glitch.
Affected beneficiaries should call Sassa customer care on 0338463400 or 0800601011.