SASSA strengthens its social grant review programme
By: Nokulunga Lebambo
The South African Social Security Agency says it has strengthened its social grant review programme.
This in a bid to pull out those who continue to receive social grants even though they have other sources
of income. Speaking at a media engagement session held at Emnotweni Arena in Mbombela on Tuesday,
SASSA CEO, Themba Matlou told members of the media that Sassa is hard at work and that the agency is
rooting out corruption.
The agency also revealed that during its social grant review process, it has flagged 13 000 beneficiaries
from Mpumalanga who might be continuing to receive grants whilst their financial circumstances have
changed.
“We have developed the Anti-fraud management strategy coupled with clear policies and standardised
operating procedures to guide our officials when processing grants applications. We have also
strengthened the capacity of our Risk and Compliance unit with more capacity and declared Fraud
investigations as a flagship project in the agency. As a result, we received 24 fraud cases last year and all
of those were investigated and finalised. We are intentional about restoring trust, confidence and
integrity in the SASSA grant system” said Matlou.
Apart from the social grant review programme, Matlou expressed that SASSA is working tirelessly to
improve customer experience and organizational efficiency by:
Improving turnaround time for processing social grant applications.
Implementing alternative service delivery models for improved accessibility.
Implementing measures to reduce long queues at SASSA local offices.
Intensifying community outreach efforts towards beneficiary education and awareness through
effective communication and engagements
He further said that the Agency has plans to install WIFI and self service machines at its offices to assist
beneficiaries who do not have access to the internet to apply for grants.
“we are aware that some of our beneficiaries, especially those who apply for the social relief of distress
grant might have challenges with date, therefore we want to mitigate that challenge by installing wifi
that will be available to our beneficiaries to assist them in their applications without having to queue to
apply for a grant meanwhile they are literate and able to use technology to make life easier” Matlou
said.