‘It’s all lies’, says woman who claims Sassa is being deceptive about having restored their services

Some beneficiaries claim that they still have not received their pension funds. Picture: David Ritchie/African News Agency (ANA) Archives

Some beneficiaries claim that they still have not received their pension funds. Picture: David Ritchie/African News Agency (ANA) Archives

Published Sep 12, 2023

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On September 6, Postbank announced news that many South Africans were waiting for.

The institution said that ATM and Post Office branch transactions were addressed due to technical issues that periodically impacted the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) social grants customers’ ability to execute withdrawals.

Postbank spokesperson, Bongani Diako, said, "Beneficiaries that have attempted withdrawals since September 5 are urged to give this process some time before attempting any further transactions.

"It is anticipated that the funds will be reversed into all beneficiaries’ accounts approximately in the next 24 hours."

However, some beneficiaries claim that they still have not received their grants.

One of them is a woman who has been waiting for her 89-year-old mother's old age pension to come, allegedly to no avail.

"It’s all lies. I have been looking at her bank balance, and nothing has been loaded. Plus, the lines at the Post Offices are so long with pensioners crying for their money. The office itself seems to have no money," she said.

She went on to accuse Sassa of lying about the situation and duping the media to clear their name.

"The stories that they gave you about being sorted are lies. I have been to stores, the Post Office and ATMs, but still nothing. My mother is very old and is still waiting. I have brought her home as she really cannot be standing waiting every day for nothing."

An X/Twitter user commented on a post by Sassa that they, "Took pensioners to a Sassa office and they told them to take 3 months of bank statements and go to Post Office Bank. The Post office bank can't help. They are just say they have big technical problems."

Here are other comments that were posted on September 11 from the Elon Musk-owned platform:

“Does the President know that SA has let down old-age pensioners and they haven't been paid September pensions?”

“People are feeding Sassa pensioners here by me who can't access their cash. Where is the the FF+ (Freedom Front Plus) and the hundreds of other political parties? You can all take your silence and go f*** yourselves.”

Sassa replied to some of the comments, "If you have been observing the Sassa official pages, there have been updates, explanations, and apologies regarding the issue."

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