SASSA is making big changes to how people apply for grants in South Africa. They want to make everything digital & modern. The money for this project will come from ending their deal with Postbank.
The Department of Social Development shared these plans in a meeting on October 16 2025. They explained that SASSA wants to make it easier for people to get their grants.
The new system will be more up-to-date and user-friendly. This is part of their plan to improve services for everyone who needs social support. The changes will help make the whole process faster and better for South Africans.
We plan to make our operations more efficient by using new technology. This includes automatic grant reviews and digital records for people who get benefits.
We’ll also check if people qualify for grants using computer systems. We want to make it easier for people to handle their grants on their own. That’s why we’ll put self-service kiosks in local offices and set up an electronic system to manage waiting lines.
The money for these improvements will partly come from savings after ending the deal between SASSA and Postbank.
SASSA began its partnership with the South African Post Office in 2018 after a court found the previous payment provider illegal.
The Post Office helped distribute social grants while SASSA learned the process. Things changed in 2023 when the Post Office faced financial troubles and shut down many payment locations.
Postbank then took over the grant payments. SASSA and Postbank made an agreement that will last until October 2025.
After this SASSA plans to switch to digital payments using its own funds. This shift shows how SASSA needed support at first but is now ready to handle payments by itself with modern technology.
The South African government will spend 248.8 billion rand on social grants in 2025/26. This amount will grow to 259.7 billion rand in 2026/27 and 271.4 billion rand in 2027/28.
A recent survey shows that more people now depend on government support. In five provinces more people get grants than have jobs. These provinces are Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo Northern Cape and Mpumalanga.
The number of people getting grants has grown a lot. In 2003 only 12.8% of people got grants. This went up to 30.9% in 2019. By 2024 it reached 40.1% because of the Covid-19 relief grant.
The Covid relief grant started at 350 rand per month. It was meant to be temporary help during the pandemic. But the government keeps extending it. They have now increased it to 370 rand per month.
The government in South Africa plans to spend a lot of money on social support. They will give out nearly 249 billion rand in 2025 and this will go up each year after that. By 2027 they expect to spend 271 billion rand. More and more South Africans need help from the government these days.
In five areas of the country there are more people getting money from the government than people with jobs. These areas are Eastern Cape Free State Limpopo Northern Cape & Mpumalanga. The number of people who get government money has gone up a lot since 2003.
Back then only about 13 out of 100 people got help. Now it’s about 40 out of 100 people. This big jump happened because of Covid-19 support payments. When Covid-19 started the government gave people 350 rand each month to help them.
They said this was just for a short time but they keep giving this money. Now they give 370 rand each month. This shows how many South Africans still need help with money.
