Sassa has called on social grant beneficiaries to be wary of callers claiming to be officials from the Agency, and assured recipients their cards would continue to be valid beyond the December 2017 expiry date.
In a media statement issued yesterday, the South African Social Security Agency said they had received complaints from social grant beneficiaries about companies offering them financial service products under the pretext that they are working with, or are endorsed by Sassa.
“Sassa does not have any relationship with, nor does it endorse, any company that offers financial products such as microloans, cell phone airtime, insurance products including life funeral cover and clothing accounts,” Sassa said in their statement.
“According to regulations, Sassais not allowed to make any deductions from beneficiaries. The social assistance legislation stipulates that Sassa can only deduct a maximum of ten percent (10%) for funeral policies. For this reason, Sassa is calling on all social grant beneficiaries to be wary of callers claiming to be Sassa officials.”
According to the statement, callers were requesting from beneficiaries confidential information such as Identity numbers, card numbers and PIN numbers.
“The Sassa card holders are advised not to divulge such confidential information over the phone, especially the PIN number, which should under no circumstances be given to anyone else, not even to a Sassa official,” Sassa said.
Victims of unlawful deductions should visit their nearest Sassa office where staff would assist them to complete the necessary forms.
Sassa call centre toll-free number: 0800 60 10 11
Sassa Eastern Cape Regional Office Customer Care Unit: 043 707 6335.
Following a number of enquiries from social grant beneficiaries in the Province about the expiry of Sassa cards, the Agency advised beneficiaries to keep using their current Sassa cards.
“The cards will not expire in December 2017, they will work beyond the expiry date. Beneficiaries are requested to continue using their SASSA card until an official announcement has been made,” the Agency said.
