New SASSA office to open in Worcester

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Social Development Minister Susan Shabangu will today officially open a new South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA) office in Worcester in the Western Cape.

Minister Shabangu is also expected to conduct door-to-door visits to centenarians in the area, as well as identified child-headed families and food projects.

Minister Shabangu will also witness the new SASSA payment systems go live, as well as the issuance of the new South African Post Office (SAPO) cards to beneficiaries of social grants.

The new SAPO card replaces the old SASSA card and will be used for payment and withdrawal of social grants as from May 2018.

The SAPO card will be distributed nationwide from 17 April to all beneficiaries of social grants receiving cash payments at pay points and merchants (e.g. ShopRite, Boxer Supermarket etc.) 

It is envisaged that SASSA, in collaboration with SAPO, will distribute the new cards to estimated nine million beneficiaries. Approximately 2.5 million of these beneficiaries receive their social grants at pay points around the country.

“This arrangement is in line with the implementation of the agreement between SASSA and SAPO in which SAPO will replace Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) as the new service provider responsible for payment of social grants to beneficiaries receiving cash payments,” the Department of Social Development said in a statement.

Other pilot sites in the country where SASSA systems will be tested to go live include:

• Dryharts Local Office in the North West Region
• Kroonstad local office in the Free State Region
• John Taolo Gaotsewe local office in the Northern Cape Region
• Soweto local office in the Gauteng Region
• Seshego local office in the Limpopo Region
• Tonga Local office in the Mpumalanga Region
• Manguzi Local Office in the KwaZulu-Natal Region
• Mount Fletcher in the Eastern Cape Region
• Worcester local office in the Western Cape Region.  – SAnews.gov.za