“I’m the Only One Who Knows My Pin”: Lady Shares Bad Experiences of Changing to SASSA’s Black Card

• A South African lady on Facebook was unimpressed with her experience with the new SASSA black card
• The beneficiary shared her misfortune in a now-viral Facebook post that tells her detailed story
• Social media users tried to advise the disappointed Mzansi woman in a thread of 45 comments 

SASSA has introduced a new system to all its beneficiaries who are still facing technical and monetary challenges.

One grant beneficiary shared her unfortunate experience in a now-viral Facebook post.

Lady shares bad experiences of changing to SASSA’s new black card

SASSA and Postbank have introduced a new card to all grant beneficiaries. The gold card will soon expire, forcing retailers to reject any payments made using the card.

Beneficiaries will be enabled to access their funds if they fail to secure their the new black card by the 20th of March. Over a million South Africans have applied for the new card after the deadline was pushed s couple of days back.

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A young South African lady, Caroline Mhambi said:

“Hi all, I wouldn't advise anyone to get the new Postbank black card as I have been scammed twice already by the employees. I changed my SASSA gold card to the black card in January and when I went to withdraw there was on R60 in my account, this month the same thing happened. 

“I only found R47 in the card but l'm the only one who knows my pin. I did a follow up with the guy who opened the card for me last week and he promised to escalate the matter to his employers last week Friday and asked me to come back today for feedback. 

“I went there today and he told me that he forgot so he said he was going to do it today. He just sent me a dodgy-looking bank statement that shows my money was withdrawn at a local ATM and I asked which ATM is that and he said he'll get back to me tomorrow. He's also refusing to give me his name or contact details of their head office.”

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Where to apply for the SASSA black card

According to Smile FM, Postbank black cards can be obtained from select outlets of major retailers that include Pick n Pay, Boxer, Usave, Shoprite and Checkers.

In addition, Postbank has started rolling out Spar stores nationwide to replace cards, providing an additional 234 places for beneficiaries to get cards.

A shortened USSD number which beneficiaries can use to look up sites has been introduced to improve their customer experience. To look up sites, beneficiaries can follow this process:

• Dial *120*355#
• Reply with (1) to continue
• Reply with the province number (numbers 1 to 9 representing all provinces)
• Reply with the number of the municipality. Then all the card replacement sites under that municipality will appear.

See the Facebook post below:

Mzansi reacts to lady’s bad experience with new SASSA black card 

Social media users tried to advise the woman in the comments of her Facebook post:

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@Tjatji Mpho said:

“My mother was also scammed like that. They said she had withdrawn her money at a local ATM in which we didn't find any money.”

@Thembisile Iketleng Malope wrote:

“This black card is nonsense. A lot of people are crying, their money is being withdrawn.”

@Gilmarie Bouwer commented:

“I don't understand how you get a black card  in January if it's only available before the end of February then everyone should have it already.”

@Cherylee Petterson said:

“I see some employees of Postbank like to see poor elderly people entering their new pins twice and trying to "help out" and they just don't care. This is honestly horrible.”

@Thembisile Iketleng Malope wrote:

“I was also scammed in October, November and December. I changed my gold card to black card in October. In January I woke up early in the morning at 4 am and I got it in February.

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@Palesa Van Wyk explained:

“Mine is not working since I changed it in January and I received my grant on the gold SASSA card.”

@Lungile MaLung Zwane said:

“I think you must get a Postbank number and block the card or go to the post office to block it.”

@Khumalo Tshepang shared:

“I didn't get paid at all, twice. SASSA said there were technical glitches since January.”

@Michaels Mlando said:

“Go to the SADSA office and change to a new bank account.”

@Browneyes Madison advised:

“Call his manager and tell him. If he’s failing, call the police and let them assist you.”

@Nolitha Faith Phillips commented:

“The most painful thing about this whole situation is how it's affecting people who really depend on this money. The ladies who helped me had so much attitude and didn't even care about what I had to say.”

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• A granny who had been standing in a SASSA queue all morning expressed her rage towards the ignorant staff in Cape Town.
• South Africans demand better service after SASSA extended their deadline for their new black Postbank cards.
• Post bank urges all South African SASSA beneficiaries to retire their old gold cards for the new black cards.

Source: Briefly News