SASSA plans to make big changes to South Africa’s grant system by making it more digital and modern.
They will use money from ending their deal with Postbank to help pay for these changes.
The Department of Social Development shared this news during a meeting on October 16 2025.
They explained that SASSA wants to make applying for grants easier and faster. The new system will do many things automatically like checking if people qualify for grants and reviewing applications.
It will also turn paper records into digital files. These updates will help SASSA work better and serve people more efficiently.
SASSA plans to add new technology to make grant services better. They will put self-service kiosks in local offices and create an electronic system to manage waiting lines.
The money for these updates will come from ending their deal with Postbank.
Back in 2018 SASSA started working with the Post Office because a court said they had to stop using their old payment company CPS.
The court told SASSA to handle all grant payments by themselves but they weren’t ready for this big task yet.
That’s why they teamed up with the Post Office to keep paying grants while they learned how to do it on their own.
SASSA had to change its payment system in 2023 when SAPO went into business rescue. They closed many cash payment locations because they were too expensive.
Postbank took over the payment duties from SAPO. SASSA and Postbank now work together under a service agreement.
This agreement will end in October 2025. The Department of Social Development plans to use the money they save to make their services digital.
The South African government plans to spend 248.8 billion rand on social support payments in 2025/26.
This amount will grow to 259.7 billion rand in 2026/27 & reach 271.4 billion rand in 2027/28.
A recent study shows that more people now depend on government money than ever before. I
n five provinces more residents get social grants than earn wages from jobs. The number of people getting government support has grown a lot.
Back in 2003 only about 13% of people got social grants. This went up to 31% in 2019. When Covid-19 hit the country added a special support payment which pushed the number up to 40% by 2024. This means that four out of every ten South Africans now get some form of government money.
The government started giving out R350 grants to help people during Covid-19. This amount went up to R370 and keeps getting extended each year.
The government thinks about making this into a permanent basic income grant but hasn’t made firm plans yet.
Right now 40% of South African homes need social grants to get by. This number grew from about 31% to 50% over time.
After regular jobs grants are the most important way people get money. About 24% of homes say grants are their main source of income.
Some areas depend on grants more than others. The Eastern Cape has 39% of homes living mainly on grants. The Northern Cape has 34% and Limpopo has about 34% too. These regions rely heavily on government support to survive.
