South Africa: SASSA Beneficiaries Face Black Card Deadline - South African News Briefs - August 31, 2026

Nearly 70,000 South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) beneficiaries are facing a critical deadline to collect their new Postbank black cards, as the old gold cards will no longer function. SASSA announced that the gold cards are no longer operational, but beneficiaries who miss the deadline can still obtain their black cards at designated collection points. To find the nearest collection site, beneficiaries can dial 120355# and provide their ID, with no further registration required.

A man in his 30s has been arrested at OR Tambo International Airport and will appear in court on charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering related to a massive R635 million Tembisa Hospital tender fraud case. Investigators claim that hospital officials collaborated with service providers to manipulate the procurement system, keeping transactions below R500,000 to circumvent formal tender processes.

In a separate development, a public health expert is urging for more environmental health officers to monitor school kitchens, following a report that only 18% of almost 9,000 kitchens surveyed in six provinces met the required Certificate of Acceptability. Food safety specialist Asanda Getyeza-Ntswam called for stricter enforcement of municipal regulations and better training for food handlers, warning that insufficient hygiene and inadequate food storage could jeopardize children's health.