Sassa is on track with it’s arrangements to disburse the 2023 social grants payments for January, expected early in the new year. This comes after previous difficulties with the December Sassa grant payments.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has plans to disburse its much anticipated social grant monies for the first month of the new year.
SASSA is responsible for administering a variety of grants to qualifying citizens, including the Child Support Grant, the Old Age Pension, and the Disability Grant.
In a statement released on Thursday, 29 December, 2022, Sassa urged all beneficiaries to make use of the multiple ways available to access their funds; these include the use of retailers and ATMs.
The social security agency recently requested that beneficiaries collect their grant payments from retailers for the month of December. This follows Postbank’s decision to suspend ATM withdrawals.
However, for the upcoming first month of the new year, payments are expected to roll out as usual and ATMs are expected to be available for January grants.
Sassa has confirmed that the grant payment dates for January 2023 are as follows:
- Older Person’s Grants: 03 January 2023
- Disability Grants: 04 January 2023
- All Other Grants: 05 January 2023
It is important to note that 1 January 2023 is a public holiday (New Year’s Day) and due to the first day of the new year falling on a Sunday, the public holiday will be observed on Monday 2 January 2023.
Therefore, Sassa will only commence with grant payments on Tuesday 3 January 2023.
Beneficiaries may collect their grants using three different methods, which includes receiving their grant directly into their bank account, via the CashSend option or using their Sassa cards at retailers.
Postbank’s decision to suspend ATM withdrawals stems from the discovery of an increase card fraud. To avoid this fraudulent activity, Sassa grant beneficiaries are advised to collect their grants from the following retailers:
- Shoprite
- Checkers
- Pick n Pay
- USave
- Boxer
- Spar
- OK
“Social grant clients with the Sassa gold card can continue using the same card as it remains valid to use at any place that accepts bank card transactions. The card can also be used at outlets nationwide that provide the cashback functionality, which includes Shoprite, Checkers, U-save, Pick ‘n Pay and Boxer,” explained Sassa.
Sassa warned beneficiaries to remain vigilant of misleading information, criminals and scammers as the festive season draws to a close. During grant payment days, there is a lot of transactions clients make to meet their various needs.
Sassa thus cautions clients to exercise care in accessing their social grants. This includes:
- Avoiding carrying large amounts of cash, but instead use cards for purchases.
- Check to ensure that beneficiaries get their own card back after every purchase.
- Give preference to the frail, the elderly persons and people living with disability in queues.
The agency distributes millions of social grants every month and according to the Department of Social Development, approximately 31% of the South African population relies on social grants.
