Question NW3040 to the Minister of Social Development
04 January 2021 - NW3040
Masango, Ms B to ask the Minister of Social Development
(1)What is the total number of (a) SA Post Office (SAPO) branches that have been earmarked to disburse SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) grants and (b) the specified offices that are still operational; (2) what (a) is the total number of persons who are solely reliant on the SAPO for the payment of their SASSA grant and (b) is the breakdown of the number for each province; (3) what is the (a) breakdown for each province of the number of recipients that use bank ATMs and (b)(i) number of beneficiaries and (ii) percentage who have chosen to receive their grants through SAPO; (4) what is the (a) number of beneficiaries and (b) percentage of beneficiaries who have chosen to receive their grants through card payments?
Reply:
(1) a) A total of 1 374 post offices provide disbursement services for the social grants. The provincial split is indicated in the table below:
|
Branch Summary |
|
|
Region |
Branches |
|
Eastern Cape |
166 |
|
Gauteng |
302 |
|
KwaZulu-Natal |
213 |
|
Free State |
115 |
|
North West |
112 |
|
Limpopo |
141 |
|
Mpumalanga |
99 |
|
Northern Cape |
65 |
|
Western Cape |
161 |
|
Total |
1,374 |
(b) The list is attached as Annexure A
2(a) Social grants are paid by SASSA. All social grants are paid through a direct deposit into the beneficiary bank accounts, regardless of whether this is a private bank account or the SASSA card account. SAPO is responsible for the disbursement of social grants for those clients who access their grants using the SASSA card. The total number of persons who use the SASSA card to access their grant is 8,105,671.
(b) The breakdown per province is as follows:
SAPO is responsible, in terms of the contract to ensure multiple access channels for grant beneficiaries to access their grants. Of the total number using the SASSA card to access their grants, approximately 93% access their grants through the National Payment System – that is at bank ATMs and retailer point of sale devices; while 5% access their grants over the counter at post offices, and 2% access their grants through the remaining 1 740 cash pay points.
The actual numbers fluctuate monthly, as beneficiaries have the right to choose which channel they utilise. There are no designated cash beneficiaries.
The table below indicates the numbers of clients who use the SASSA card to access their grants through the various channels. There is unfortunately no provincial breakdown of these numbers.
|
PAYMENT CHANNELS STATISTICS |
|||||
|
Month |
SAPO Branches |
NPS ( Retailers) |
NPS (ATM) |
Cash Pay Points |
Total |
|
April |
315 716 |
2 396 250 |
5 184 787 |
96 910 |
7 993 663 |
|
May |
287 537 |
2 367 234 |
5 153 083 |
254 051 |
8 061 905 |
|
June |
327 439 |
2 322 316 |
5 225 329 |
225 926 |
8 101 010 |
3(a) SASSA pays a total of 11 509 390 social grant beneficiaries monthly (as at December 2020). The breakdown per province is as follows:
(b)(i) The number of beneficiaries who have chosen to receive their grants through SAPO by using the SASSA card total 8,105,671 while 3,403,719 or 29,6% receive the grants directly into their private bank accounts.
(ii) The percentage who have chosen to receive their grants through SAPO is 70.4%
4(a) Every beneficiary receives their social grant directly into their bank accounts. As indicated above, 8 105 671 receive their grants directly into their SASSA cards.
(b) The percentage of SASSA cards used in the payment environment is 70,4% of the total beneficiary population.