Social grant beneficiaries have until 31 August to switch from the SASSA Gold Card to the Postbank Black Card. Archive photo: supplied
By Marecia Damons
About 280,000 social grant beneficiaries still need to replace their SASSA Gold Cards with Postbank Black Cards before the 31 August. Postbank has warned that those who delay risk disruptions to their grant payments.
The campaign to switch cards resumed in April after the initial rollout ended on 31 March 2025, by which time about 1.5-million beneficiaries had successfully switched to the new cards.
Postbank told GroundUp that about 160,000 beneficiaries have changed to Black Cards since the rollout resumed, leaving about 280,000 people still to make the switch.
The bank said it currently serves approximately 2.1-million SASSA beneficiaries across all grant types. The number changes monthly because of factors such as beneficiary verification, deaths and changes in payment methods.
The previous rollout was marked by confusion and repeated deadline changes. Beneficiaries were required to switch within a short period, leading to long queues at collection points. System failures also hampered the rollout.
Postbank chief commercial officer Thamsanqa Cele told GroundUp that Postbank had put “all the operational requirements” in place and provided beneficiaries with several months to make the switch after the rollout resumed in April. He urged beneficiaries not to wait until late August to replace their cards.
“We are concerned that they will experience delays due to long queues. We are already witnessing an increase in queue volumes at many of our sites, which we envisage will only increase next month,” he said.
The switch to Black Cards follows the phasing out of SASSA Gold Cards after a 2021 cryptographic breach compromised the security key used to issue the older cards. The new Black Cards comply with updated banking security standards.
Postbank said SASSA Gold Cards are being phased out and will no longer work after the 31 August deadline. Beneficiaries who have not switched by then risk disruptions to their grant payments.
Postbank Black Cards can be collected free of charge at selected Shoprite, Checkers, Usave, Pick n Pay, Boxer and Spar stores. Beneficiaries need a valid South African ID or temporary ID to replace their cards and can dial *120*355# to locate their nearest card replacement site.
© 2026 GroundUp. This article is published under the GroundUp Republication Licence Version 1.0. Email [email protected] to request permission to republish.
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