Johannesburg – All eyes are on Communications and Digital Technology Minister Mondli Gungubele who is expected to respond to the sudden resignations of three Postbank Board members and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) social grant payment problems.
Earlier this week, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu apologised unreservedly to SASSA social grant beneficiaries who had been unable to access their money in September.
Amid complaints by SASSA social grant beneficiaries of non-payments, three Postbank board members have quit in a huff.
In a letter to Communications Minister Gungubele dated 12 September 2023, Postbank Chairperson Thabile Wonci, Advocate Leigh Hefer-Hendrikse, and Martin Mahosi said they were quitting.
“The increasingly hostile and oppressive attitude of the minister towards the Borad has become untenable, making it impossible for the Board to continue until the end of its term in 2025,” said the joint resignation letter signed by the trio.
“This letter serves to advise the minister of our resignations as Non-Executive Directors of the Postbank as well as my resignation as the chairperson of the Board of Postbank SOC Limited (Posbank), effective immediately.”
Among the complaints advanced by the resigning Board members was that they were facing challenges, which Minister Gungubele was made aware of and did nothing to help them.
“This decision to resign from the organisation for which we have worked so hard to ensure it delivers its mandate, articulary the majority of vulnerable South Africans, the grant beneficiaries was not reached lightly,” the letter said.
“We understand and accept the implications of this decision.”
Ministers Gungubele and Zulu have scheduled a joint briefing for later today, (Thursday 14 September 2023).
The ministers are expected to provide an overview of the causes of the system outage and outline measures by both SASSA and Postbank to prevent similar events from recurring in the future.
