SASSA WELCOMES HIGH COURT DECISION TO STRIKE URGENT APPLICATION BY POSTBANK OFF ROLL

By Staff Writer.

• The North Gauteng High Court has struck the urgent application by Postbank to halt the termination of its Master Services Agreement with the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) off the roll.
• The judgment has been welcomed by SASSA.
• SASSA has assured beneficiaries who bank with Postbank that they will continue receiving their grants.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has welcomed the judgment by the North Gauteng High Court to strike off the roll the urgent application by Postbank to prevent the termination of the Master Services Agreement (MSA) between the two entities.

Judge C Collins said the application by Postbank lacked urgency and agreed with SASSA’s submission regarding the lack of urgency.

Judge Collins further stated that Postbank had been aware of SASSA’s intention to terminate the MSA since March 2024.

Welcoming the judgment, SASSA CEO Themba Matlou said the judgment reaffirmed SASSA’s stance that the termination of the MSA had no bearing and would not disrupt social grant payment to the beneficiaries receiving their grants through Postbank.

“We are happy with the judgment, and we would like to once more emphasise that all the eligible grant beneficiaries with accounts at Postbank will continue receiving their grants,” Matlou said.

“According to Regulation 23 (a) of the Social Assistance Act, beneficiaries are paid their social grants into the account of their choice. In this instance, those with Postbank will continue to receive their grants, and the termination of the MSA has no bearing on that”, he said.

Matlou stressed SASSA’s commitment to the distribution of social grants to all eligible and deserving beneficiaries and reiterated that the agency was ramping up efforts to enhance the integrity of the social grants system.

“All the decisions that we take are in the best interest of our beneficiaries, and we do this to safeguard the rights of social grant beneficiaries as best as we can,” Matlou said.

“We also want to enable an environment where clients can freely choose how they access their grants.”