Two South Africa Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries, Sean and Lucille Anderson, who live in Little Falls have been sent from pillar to post in their bid to establish what caused their pension monies to vanish from their accounts.
The duo has endured two difficult months (April and May) after money mysteriously went missing from their accounts, causing them to panic and worry about how they would manage their bills.
Lucille’s daughter, Fiona, who has been travelling with her mother and brother (Sean) to get the matter resolved, explained to the Northsider how her family members were conned.
“On 13 April, my mom and Sean went to Checkers to withdraw money from their Sassa cards, but their cards were declined,” said Fiona.
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Lucille added, “When I inserted my card in the machine and typed in my PIN, it operated just fine, but as soon as I inquired about the money, the cashier told me the card was blocked”.
On 23 April, Fiona said they went to the Sassa offices in Krugersdorp, thinking the cards would be unblocked, but “… at Sassa, they were told the money had been withdrawn from their accounts from two different banks”.
In April, Lucille lost R1 150, while Sean was conned out of R800. In May, Sean lost a further R1 700 which was withdrawn on several separate occasions, according to Fiona. “Our friend took my mother to the Post Office, where they were given forms that you fill in to be paid via the bank. They took these forms to Sassa in Krugersdorp,” Fiona explained.
However, this did not go well, according to Fiona, although fraud cases were opened on both occasions.
She added,“ I went to Sassa in Roodepoort, because it was cheaper to go there, and asked for help. They told me the matter would be resolved at the beginning of June, but we are still in distress because we don’t know what has happened to the missing money”.
However, a number of reports have emerged in the media about Sassa fraud scams, with videos of scammers displaying a bunch of cards in their possession and boasting about how much they make out of conning beneficiaries.
Fiona said she hoped that her family members would be reimbursed as they’ve fallen behind on some of their bills. “It’s been a terrible period,” she said. “All our bills are behind, and I had to pay some of their bills because they could not pay them,” she lamented.
The Northsider approached Sassa to establish whether they are aware of the matter and find out how they plan to rectify it. Sassa’s senior communications manager, Nandi Mosia, responded, saying, “Sapo is still conducting investigations into these and other matters, and could not commit to a time frame in terms of response”.
This is a developing story. Share your thoughts if you’ve gone through a similar experience by sending an email to sison@caxton.co.za.
