SASSA to Suspend SRD Grants Where Fraud Is Suspected

The South African Social Security Agency is to suspend payment of Social Relief of Distress grants where fraud is suspected.

• SASSA has announced the suspension of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant to beneficiaries suspected of fraud.
• Such beneficiaries are expected to verify their identities on SASSA’s Electronic Know Your Client system.
• But this system has also been suspended, leaving legitimate beneficiaries in the lurch.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is to suspend payments to beneficiaries of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant who are suspected of fraud. But the verification system has also been suspended, so beneficiaries who are suspected of fraud won’t be able to prove their identity.

This means legitimate beneficiaries who are suspected of fraud could be left in the lurch.

The suspension of grant payments is aimed at ensuring that grants are provided to legitimate beneficiaries while safeguarding against identity theft, the agency said on Tuesday.

Spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said SASSA is “mandated to suspend grant payments for clients to confirm their identity”. Beneficiaries whose grant payment has been suspended, will be allowed to re-apply after confirming their identity, he said.

SASSA says beneficiaries who are suspected of fraud must undergo a biometric ID verification. They will be notified through their online SRD grant profiles. The notification will inform them that once they select the “request identity verification” option, SASSA will send instructions on how to proceed. They will then receive an SMS with a link to verify their identity.

But SASSA also announced the temporary suspension of its Electronic Know Your Client (eKYC) system, which is used by SASSA to verify beneficiaries’ identities.

The agency said it planned to “enhance” the system’s “functionality”.

Elizabeth Raiters, deputy director of #PayTheGrants campaign, said that since the eKYC system is suspended, beneficiaries whose accounts are suspended will be unable to verify their identities and access their grants.

“How can beneficiaries complete this verification if the system to do the verification is down? Why is SASSA blocking beneficiaries if the link to unblock them isn’t working?” Raiters asked.

The SRD grant payment system is currently being investigated by the Department of Social Development (DSD) following allegations of fraud within the grant system. Last Thursday, Bridget Masango, chair of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Social Development, said the committee would call for a full investigation of the entire grants payment system.

Social Development Minister Nokuzola Tolashe has previously said the department’s R266-billion-a-year social grant budget benefits 28-million people, of whom eight million are SRD beneficiaries.

Raiters said #PayTheGrants had realised there was an issue with the eKYC system at the beginning of January, when SRD grant beneficiaries needing to verify their identities did not receive the link.

She said they raised the issue with SASSA and were told the eKYC system was offline. Raiters said the organisation’s emails have since been “overflowing with emails from beneficiaries” who cannot access their R370-a-month grant because their profiles have been suspended.

“My phone is buzzing every day with beneficiaries and I have to keep telling them that SASSA’s system is offline. Beneficiaries are coming to my house every day and each time I have to show them proof that I’ve already complained about this to SASSA,” Raiters said.

In a statement on Tuesday, SASSA stressed the importance of beneficiaries safeguarding their personal information. The agency warned beneficiaries not to share their identity numbers with strangers, as this could potentially make them complicit in fraudulent activities. “The agency is encouraging people to take responsibility to make sure that their identity numbers are not utilised for fraudulent activities,” Letsatsi said.

He explained in the statement that if a beneficiary’s grant status is marked “referred”, this means the SASSA system has flagged the case for possible fraud.

The agency also advised beneficiaries not to frequently change their banking details or contact information, as this can delay the payment process.

“Thousands of beneficiaries who depended on the grant will not be paid in January,” Raiters said. “Some parents planned to buy stationery for their children, but now they can’t.”

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