Durban — The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) in KwaZulu-Natal has urged social grant recipients to be wary of fake people purporting to be Sassa officials visiting households to change Sassa payment cards.
Sassa KZN spokesperson Sandy Godlwana said they had been inundated with reports that social grant beneficiaries were being deceived by bogus people who visit them in their homes and claim to be Sassa officials advising them to change their Sassa cards.
“Sassa is not embarking on a campaign to change beneficiaries’ cards and under no circumstances will Sassa officials ever call or visit a grant recipient and require their personal information or their Sassa cards and PINs,” Godlwana said.
“Beneficiaries are urged not to co-operate with anybody who requests to change their cards, and instead report incidents directly to the police. Beneficiaries are also advised to be vigilant and cautious when using their PINs at all times, and not to share this with anybody, even close family members. If there are any changes to the grant payment system, Sassa will inform beneficiaries through all available channels and also through stakeholder engagements.”
Sassa also reminds social grant beneficiaries that payments for August will begin on August 2 for older persons, followed by disability grants on August 3 with all other grants being paid from August 4.
Beneficiaries who do not have PIN codes or have forgotten their PINs are encouraged to ensure that they reset their PIN codes at their nearest Post Office outlet. Those who have PIN codes and still remember them need not renew their PIN.
“This will enable our clients to utilise all available channels to access their grants and give them the freedom to use their Sassa cards at all Points of Sales, such as ATMs and merchant stores (for example Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Boxer or U-Save),” Godlwana said.
She added that beneficiaries who received their social grants at Sassa mobile pay points were also advised that they could access their grants through the above-mentioned payment infrastructures on the allocated days for the specific grants, or any time thereafter, and do not have to wait for the cash payment dates.
For further information, Sassa can be contacted on 033 846 3400 or 0800 60 10 11.
Daily News