SASSA’s illegal grant deductions stats are not the full picture

The Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) welcomes the open engagement and positive-criticism of the South African Social Security (SASSA) by Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP).

This comes after SASSA appeared before the WCPP Standing Committee on Community Development today. The SASSA is a national entity run by the National Department of Social Development. Provincial DSD has no operational control over SASSA, just an oversight role.

SASSA came in for sharp criticism for the persisting instances of illegal grant deductions.

SASSA’s own data presented in the House indicated that the agency had in the 2015/16 year received in excess of 18 807 disputes on social grants. These are divided into five type of disputed illegal deductions;

It is the view of DSD that these figures are not representative of the true extent of the problem, and SASSA have conceded this point during the committee meeting. There is clearly under-reporting of cases. For example, the numbers of April 2016 alone, already saw SASSA receive 23 133 enquiries, of which 1846 stemmed from the Western Cape.

The Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Adv. Albert Fritz, has in the past been vocal calling on SASSA to improve its systems, and clean up its administration. This has been in response to the numerous complaints the provincial department receives about SASSA related to illegal deductions from old age pensions, corruption and grant fraud.

In this regard, efforts by SASSA to clean up its administration in relation to illegal deductions and combating fraud and corruption are most welcome.

The Ministry will continue to play its oversight role over SASSA in the Western Cape. We continue to call on SASSA to drastically improve their local office level services and response to community members looking to report illegal activities. This will drastically improve its ability to effectively deal with complaints and disputes from the public.

The public can report any suspected social grant fraud to the SASSA hotline on 0800 60 10 11, or their regional customer care lines on 021 468 0235. Complaints can also be forwarded to GrantsEnquiriesWC@sassa.gov.za.