Over 600,000 beneficiaries were affected by last week's system failure, Ministers confirm
Postbank's Board of Directors have been fired and the company has been placed under administration, the Minister of Communications andDigital Technologies announced on Thursday.- A forensic investigation found that
Postbank had maintained contracts with suppliers unlawfully. This includes a contract for the payment switch technology which enablesPostbank to pay social grants through thePostbank /SASSA cards. - During a press briefing on Thursday, the
Postbank CEO said that the vast majority of the 600,000 beneficiaries affected by last week's "glitch" have since received their grant money. - Many recipients are now opting to rather have their grants paid directly into their personal bank accounts instead of through
Postbank .
Mondli Gungubele, Minister of Communications and
He was joined by Social Development Minister
"
Meanwhile, in a statement on Thursday morning, Gungubele said that an administrator has been appointed, pending the appointment of a new board, Gungubele said.
Three of the board members, including the chairperson, resigned on Tuesday. They claimed in a letter that the Minister had been "hostile and oppressive" towards them.
Gungubele rejected this accusation. He said that governance issues at
On Thursday, GroundUp reported that
In August,
During Thursday's media briefing,
"Things like this do happen," Mbengashe said. "I cannot stand here, with an understanding of technology, and say that 100% something like this will never happen again."
She said that although relevant tests had been conducted on the new system prior to launching, the transition still "didn't happen as planned". The failed transactions were manually reversed, she said.
Mbengashe apologized for the inconvenience and said that she was raised by a grant beneficiary. "I know how it feels not to get your money in time," she said.
Beneficiaries opt to get grants in personal bank accounts
Following this payment failure, many people were forced to take loans to buy basic essentials like food. On Thursday afternoon GroundUp spoke to beneficiaries who were seated in a snaking queue outside SASSA's office in Bellville.
Most wanted to get rid of their SASSA gold cards. They said they were worried about further issues with
"My husband hasn't got his money yet, so we're both depending on mine for now. They could have told us the truth and not let us wait like that."
Nomalady Katshwa said she traveled to five different grant sites to try and withdraw her grant before she found out about the system "glitch". She has been borrowing money to visit different post offices. "I'm making debts on money I don't even have yet."
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