The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has reported nearly 500 cases of people, including officials, allegedly involved in social grant fraud over the last ten years. These reports have been made to the police in order to pursue criminal charges.

Bridget Masango, a DA member of parliament, wrote to Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu to inquire about the criminal complaints filed by Sassa and her department against people who benefited unfairly from receiving social handouts, as well as the authorities who assisted them.

Another question posed to the minister was the number of charges successfully prosecuted. According to Zulu, the South African Social Security Agency referred 489 cases for criminal investigations and potential prosecution between the fiscal years 2012/2013 and 2021/2022, with 31 successfully prosecuted.

She went on to say that the case investigation involved 1 174 people, 761 of whom were officials. Furthermore, Sassa has an approved fraud prevention policy that is consistent with the national anti-corruption strategy.

“Fraud awareness campaigns are carried out on a quarterly basis in accordance with the operational plan.” The strategy focuses on fraud prevention through fraud awareness capabilities.”

The minister also stated that the Independent Tribunal received 3 595 147 appeals for the current cycle of the R350 grant, which ran from April 2022 to July 2022.

The Independent Tribunal has decided on all appeals for SRD grant applications rejected by Sassa for the month of June 2022.

She stated that the remaining appeals are still within the 90-day window, which will expire during the relevant months.

According to Zulu, only 516 442 of the 3.5 million appeals received were resolved in June, leaving 3 078 705 unresolved. Furthermore, the minister stated that the adjudication processes for April – May 2022 are currently underway.