Some SASSA grantholders have been seeing money taken out of their accounts when their transaction read as unsuccessful. This would obviously cause panic amongst beneficiaries making them think they are being scammed and losing the money which they need to survive on.
Grantholders need not worry as the Post Office has said that such transactions are being reversed and accounts will be back to normal and how they should be after 1PM today.
The South African Post Office posted the following on their social media pages:
Postbank is aware that some Sassa withdrawals are timing out, deducting the amount from your account although the transaction is unsuccessful. These transactions are being automatically reversed, account status will be correct after 13:00 today. We apologise for the issue.
Now, SASSA beneficiaries are hesitant to withdraw funds and are being advised by others to instead wait until the problem is completely resolved.
South Africans have also responded to the social media post saying banks such as Nedbank and Standard Bank are having similar issues and hope that something will be done to fix this.
SASSA urges grantholders that, “Payments are underway, all qualifying applicants will receive their grants”.
The Special Relief Distress Grant which sees SASSA offer R350 a month to those in need is set to close for applications today. However, many have asked for the grant to be extended and this does seem like an obvious move Government should make.
Minister in charged of Higher Education in the country as well as SA Communist Party member, Blade Nzimande, has previously asked Cabinet members to extend the SASSA R350 grant and said, “The Special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRDG) of R350 per month has offered a survival lifeline to millions. But that grant is now due to expire at the end of this month. We cannot allow this to happen. The SACP calls for a Basic Income Guarantee that is not means-tested to avoid costly administrative overheads”.
SASSA has previously responded to these calls and said that the agency doesn’t have the necessary funds to extend the grant and that it would be up to the National Treasury.
Postbank is aware that some Sassa withdrawals are timing out, deducting the amount from your account although the transaction is unsuccessful. These transactions are being automatically reversed, account status will be correct after 13:00 today. We apologise for the issue. pic.twitter.com/EYLk0SI1ng
— SA Post Office (@PostofficeSa) October 7, 2020
The more you understand yourself, the more silence there is, the healthier you are. —Maxime Lagacé
