Postbank has resolved technical issues affecting grant payments

People gather outside the Bishop Lavis Post Office for The Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress amount of R350 per month. Picture Leon Lestrade. African News Agency/ANA.

People gather outside the Bishop Lavis Post Office for The Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress amount of R350 per month. Picture Leon Lestrade. African News Agency/ANA.

Published Nov 7, 2022

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Johannesburg - Postbank said it had resolved technical glitches for its grant payment recipients using the gold card.

The post office said recipients will now be able to collect their grants at ATMs across the country. The problem, which affected more than seven million grant beneficiaries, was resolved on Saturday.

On Thursday, the SA Post Office’s Postbank said that customers wanting to make over-the-counter deposits or withdrawals were affected by the glitches.

The state-owned utility, which is responsible for more than 10 million grant beneficiaries, struggled to pay grants due to technical glitches. Over the past few months, the utility has been hampered by a series of financial issues as it has battled to pay some of its debts.

"The social grant recipients using Sassa gold cards can now collect their grant monies at ATMs and retailers nationwide as the system glitches that impacted payments have been resolved. The payment system challenges have been resolved by Saturday afternoon, and we have since been recording stability with successful transactions over ATMs and retailers," Postbank spokesperson Bongani Diako said.

Diako said following the technical glitches in its systems, Postbank will continue to monitor the situation.

"Postbank will monitor the system performance within Post Office branches when the branches open on Monday and advise beneficiaries of any developments. Postbank apologises to our Sassa social grant beneficiaries for the inconvenience caused due to these system challenges. We know that social grants are important to the livelihood of the most vulnerable in our community, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience experienced during the system glitch," he said.

The utility has struggled to deliver grants on time because of alleged banking system glitches.

Last week, Telkom threatened to cut off its IT systems if the Post Office failed to pay an outstanding R225 million debt.

It has also been reported that the entity has been unable to pay rent, electricity, and water at some of its branches. This has led to the closure of certain branches across the country.

The Star

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