SCORES of senior citizens stood in long queues at post offices this week as they rushed to renew their pension cards.
Some of the cards are due to expire at the end of this month and the elderly have been allocated specific days to replace their cards at post offices.
With many post offices closed down, the elderly were left scrambling to find the nearest post office “incurring huge costs” in order to get new cards to be able to withdraw the state grant through the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa).
Sheila Adams, 82, was turned away from the Retreat post office because there were only 15 cards available.
“My daughter took me there and I was probably number 20 in the queue. However, after waiting for a while we were told that they could only help 15 people.”
Adams only checked the expiry date on the existing card she received two years ago after friends and family members told her that they needed to be renewed.
“There was no communication on what process we need to follow. They make it difficult for us because we only became aware of this when people said we only had one day left to renew the cards. That's why so many people rushed to have it done,” said Adams.
Another senior citizen, 88, who preferred to be identified as a concerned citizen left his Heathfield home with his wife after 4am on Thursday to stand in the queue outside the Kenilworth post office.
“We were the first in the line. People came in with canes and others in wheelchairs. There was even a man who had cancer in the line.
“My fingerprints were not available on the machines so I was sent back to Sassa in order for them to verify that I was a recipient. Thereafter I was sent to the Home Affairs office so they could capture my fingerprints again. I was lucky that I had a car and could access the places and be able to go back to the post office to be issued with a new card. Others have to go back with public transport at a huge financial cost.”
The new cards are valid for four years.
He said with current load shedding, machines at the Retreat post office were often off line and there was no shelter for the elderly in case of bad weather.
The senior citizen added: “In May, another lot of folks will have to go through this process . It’s terrible that people have to go through such an ordeal.”
In Grassy Park many elderly people also flocked to the local post office to renew their cards this week.
Local councillor Kevin Southgate said his office was inundated with complaints from the elderly who could not access the post office service as they were told they were off line.
“Desperate senior citizens were being turned away after standing in the line from 5am. Others even struggled to get to the post office because it was costly for them,” he said.
Southgate said he negotiated with the Grassy Park post office management to make the community centre available to help.
"The centre can accommodate more people. As soon as the word was out, people from Mitchells Plain also came and the staff was helping over a hundred people each day on Wednesday and Thursday. We will also make it available next week on Monday and Wednesday.“
Sassa said the gold cards started expiring in March and the agency alerted the recipients to the processes they needed to follow to replace their cards.
"A staggered approach was adopted to avoid long queues at post office branches. Old Age and Disability Grant Card holders were given an opportunity to replace their cards on Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesdays to Saturdays were allocated to all children’s grants," said Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi.
He advised recipients that when renewing the cards fingerprint verification with the Home Affairs Hanis system was necessary to confirm that the card was being issued to the right person
“In an instance where a client's fingerprints are not on the Hanis system, then it is a matter which the Department of Home Affairs needs to investigate.”
Letsatsi said as soon as the expiry date was reached, the card would become invalid.
“Grant recipients have the option to also choose to get their grant money deposited directly into their bank accounts but to do so, they need to visit Sassa office with their bank confirmation letters or bank statements and fill in the form which mandates Sassa to pay the recipient’s grant money into their bank account,” he said.