Pretoria – In a welcome development for millions of South Africans, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has confirmed early payment dates for April 2025, coupled with an increase in grant amounts designed to provide much-needed financial relief. This comes as Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana allocated significant funding to social support in his recent Budget Speech.
The revised payment schedule is as follows:
- Old age grant: 2 April 2025
- Disability grant: 3 April 2025
- Child support grant: 4 April 2025
In addition to the early payment dates, all social grants, with the exception of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, will see an increase in their value this April.
Here's a breakdown of the grant increases:
- Old age grant: R2 315 (previously R2 185)
- War veterans grant: R2 335 (previously R2 205)
- Disability grant: R2 315 (previously R2 185)
- Foster care grant: R1 250 (previously R1 180)
- Care dependency grant: R2 315 (previously R2 185)
- Child support grant: R560 (previously R530)
- Grant-in aid: R560 (previously R530)
These increases will provide a significant boost to the income of grant recipients, helping them to cope with the rising cost of living.
Meanwhile, grant beneficiaries have been granted a further reprieve regarding the replacement of their South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) gold cards. The deadline to switch to the new Postbank Black Cards has been extended by two months, until May 31, 2025.
Since the announcement of the transition deadline, beneficiaries have been under considerable pressure to make the switch. Postbank and Sassa have faced criticism for a perceived lack of a smooth transition, with beneficiaries enduring long queues, network glitches, and instances of being turned away without completing their card replacements, leading to uncertainty about how they will receive their grants going forward.
Postbank initiated the replacement of Sassa Gold Cards with the new Postbank Black Cards in September 2024, initially setting a deadline of February 28. This was later moved to March 20, despite over a million beneficiaries still needing to make the switch.
"Postbank is pleased to announce that, following consideration and the determinations made by the regulators, grant beneficiaries that are yet to switch to black cards will continue to use SASSA gold cards to access their social grant payments for a further period of two months, that includes April and May 2025," Postbank stated.
"This means that beneficiaries that have not yet replaced their SASSA gold cards with the new Postbank Black cards can still use their SASSA gold card to access their grants only for the months of April 2025 and May 2025. As a result of the extension, gold cards will continue to work across all payment systems such as the ATM’s, POS machines for cash withdrawal at our partner retail stores and swiping for purchases. Meaning that due to the extension, the gold cards will continue to work as they do now," the statement continued.
Following the extension of the continued usage of the cards, beneficiaries with gold cards were advised not to use the over-the-counter cash payments option inside Post Office branches, as previously announced by Postbank and SASSA.
"SASSA gold cards will be decommissioned after this two months extended period and any grant beneficiary that does not have a black card by end of this period in May 2025, will not be able to access their grant through any channel except through their black card. Their grant money will remain in their account, and it will only be accessible (with) a black card," Postbank clarified.
According to Postbank, the replacement of SASSA gold cards is still underway, with more card replacement sites now available compared to a few weeks ago.
Social Development MEC Jaco Londt acknowledged the public confusion surrounding the card replacement process, stating that many members of the public had expressed concerns about the process to date.
"We urge residents not to wait. Please make the change as soon as possible, to avoid added pressure on the system. We also urge Postbank to step up its communication, and this is something we will continuously tell the management as well," said Londt.
"This week I visited several community outreaches Postbank conducted in the Overberg region of the Western Cape. I saw very few people at some sites, because the broader community was not aware of the outreaches. The roving teams were even doing home visits to assist some beneficiaries to make the card switch. People are not aware of these outreaches because the communication has been subpar. We have been sharing information that has been made available to us from Postbank on social media, but we require more information earlier," Londt added.
Londt also indicated that he would be meeting with SASSA and Postbank next week to address the issues surrounding the card replacement process.
While the extension of the gold card deadline provides temporary relief, beneficiaries are strongly encouraged to switch to the new Postbank Black Cards as soon as possible to ensure uninterrupted access to their grants. The increased grant amounts and early payment dates, combined with the extended gold card deadline, offer a positive outlook for social grant beneficiaries in April 2025.
