How the agency and law enforcement are combating SASSA grant fraud
SASSA CEO tells Parliament that the agency has implemented corrective measures to combat grant fraud, but gaps still remain in the system.
The Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) investigated SASSA grant fraud over the past year, following Minister Sisisi Tolashe’s appointment and the replacement of the previous CEO.
SASSA has now updated the Portfolio Committee on Social Development about the measures it has taken to combat grant fraud.
Current CEO Themba Matlou told Parliament that SASSA has implemented 98% of the corrective actions directed by AGSA. However, the committee heard that, despite close cooperation with law enforcement, gaps in the agency’s security systems still persist.
SASSA GRANT FRAUD
As such, the South African Social Security Agency disclosed on its website that four unresolved issues related to grant fraud remain, with the AGSA audit for 2023/24 highlighting two major IT and administrative problems.
However, Matlou told parliament that of its SASSA grant fraud action plan, only a few corrective measures remain. “We are happy to indicate that 173 out of 177 corrections have been implemented. We admit our systems allowed some fraudulent applications through. We’ve already suspended officials and we are working with law enforcement (the Hawks Special Investigating Unit) on the cases,” reports GroundUp.
PREVENTATIVE BIOMETRICS
This is why the agency introduced the unpopular mandatory biometrics to curb SASSA grant fraud. Previously, the old green ID booklet could be easily forged. Now everyone with a SASSA grant can be digitally identified.
Similarly, the AGSA audit highlighted grants paid to deceased beneficiaries, a situation often seen when families of deceased elderly recipients continue to collect payments. In one instance, nearly 500 beneficiaries in the Eastern Cape received R55 million in disability and old-age grants between 2018 and 2023.
BULK RECALL TO STOP SASSA GRANT FRAUD
Since 2021, SASSA has continued paying more than R140 million to 75,000 deceased grant beneficiaries. Chief Financial Officer Tsakeriwa Chauke attributed this to late or unreported deaths with Home Affairs.
To tackle the issue, SASSA is developing a ‘bulk recall’ system to recover payments once a death is confirmed.
The Bankserv/South African Reserve Bank (SARB) mechanism is expected to be operational by the end of September 2025. Chauke confirmed that this system will allow SASSA to easily reclaim funds from those committing grant fraud.
UPDATED DIGITAL DATABASE
Furthermore, the AGSA report highlighted with concern that not all beneficiaries who received grants were actually listed on SASSA’s digital system. In turn, this raised questions about the completeness/validity of its database. However, Matlou says SASSA has since launched a digitisation project to deal with incomplete or missing beneficiary records.
The problem often stems from pressure at local office queues, which means the back office doesn’t always record all applications in the system.
To address this, the agency has begun scanning all active manual files and uploading them digitally. So far, 67% of active files have been scanned, and the remaining 33% are expected to be completed by the end of the year.