Pensioners Left in Limbo As SASSA Suspends July Grant Payments, South Africans Furious With Decision

• Some South African pensioners did not receive their grant payments in July, with no explanation given
• The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) suspended payments for some in June as well
• South Africans weighed in on the issue, expressing frustration on behalf of the country's pensioners

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

Thousands of South Africa’s pensioners across the country have been left fuming after they did not receive their grant payments for July.

The payment date for South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grants was Wednesday, 2 July, but many are still waiting, with little to no explanation.

Why haven’t some pensioners received their grants?

According to SASSA, the agency flagged approximately 210,000 beneficiaries. SASSA said that these beneficiaries are believed to have undisclosed income, that potentially might exceed eligibility thresholds.

As a result, some people’s grants were withheld in June 2025, but the problem seems to have persisted into July as well. SASSA stated that the suspensions are part of an income verification initiative. They also urged beneficiaries to wait for official communication.

“We urge beneficiaries to be aware and wait for official communication from SASSA. Any unauthenticated information should be treated as a rumour,” SASSA’s media manager Andile Tshona said.

Some recipients haven’t received any communication either

Despite SASSA’s appeals for recipients to wait for communication, many have not received any indication of what the problem is.

On Thursday, 3 July 2025, many residents gathered at the agency’s offices at the Bombay Civic Centre in Pietermaritzburg, as they sought answers as to why they didn’t receive their grants.

Some only were aware that they didn’t receive payment when they went to draw out the funds, only to realise it wasn’t there.

Speaking exclusively to Briefly News, Dundee resident Johaan Hamman also shared his frustration with SASSA. Mr Hamman explained that he didn’t receive his money for July and received no information until he queried it.

He said that he went to the SASSA office on 3 July to get some sort of explanation and was told by a manager about a glitch.

“At first, they said something about a glitch, and then people messing with the accounts, and then they just cut us all off at the knees. No explanation and no apology,” he said.

Eventually, he was told that recipients were being reassessed because of corruption, something he wasn’t pleased with.

“If you investigate corruption at SASSA, it is not the beneficiaries who are the problem. We just want our money. Now pensioners are stuck having to pay bills or get food, and these people at SASSA do not care,” he vented.

South Africans join in on the frustration

Social media users also weighed in on the issue, expressing frustration that it was the ordinary citizens who suffered.

Mihlonti Mokoena said:

“Foreign nationals are getting grants illegally, but instead of SASSA tracking them down, they punish our parents by not paying them their old age grants. I hope South Africans are seeing what the government is doing; putting foreigners first instead of citizens.”

Debbie Hutton asked:

“Why does SASSA wait until after the fact to announce the review process? No information was given about what to do, where to go, or what to take with you. It's a joke. These are elderly people who are affected. SASSA should be ashamed.”

Elaine Southgate stated:

“How shameful. Treating old people like this. I hope they get karma really bad.”

Stanley Matela explained:

“They did the same last month to an old man. He did submit the documents, including the affidavit so the review can be done. Now he is still awaiting his July payment that he should've been in his account on the second of July. Maybe SASSA wants another review or maybe this will be happening every month because people are incompetent at SASSA.”

SASSA payments to be delayed in KZN

In May 2025, Briefly News reported that SASSA announced that grant payments for residents in KZN would be delayed.

It was announced that around 184,000 grant recipients would receive their grant payouts later than usual in June.

This was after the agency uncovered that many failed to disclose additional sources of income during their initial applications.

Source: Briefly News