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SASSA biometrics pays off

Farzana Rasool
By Farzana Rasool, ITWeb IT in Government Editor.
Johannesburg, 30 Jul 2012

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has seen positive results from its new biometric system.

Speaking at the agency's performance review workshop on Friday, CEO Virginia Petersen said her priorities on appointment - more than a year ago - were to achieve a clean audit, improve the grant payment system, improve service delivery and achieve automation.

She added that SASSA has made progress in achieving these priorities, with the biometric system assisting in rooting out fraud.

“Over the past two years, the Department of Social Development received adverse audit opinions relating to SASSA operations. For just over a year, SASSA has been reliant on an audit company to assist with financial management. I'm pleased to announce that the phase is completed and our minister, Bathabile Dlamini, will announce the audit results for the entire social development sector, which includes SASSA, next week.”

Investigating trends

The agency started re-registering all social grants beneficiaries throughout the country to enrol them on the new SASSA payment system.

“This process involves capturing personal data and biometric information of beneficiaries (including 10 fingerprints and a photograph) and issuing of a SASSA card, in order to ensure that the grant is paid to the right person. The re-registration process thus far is starting to yield positive results,” said Petersen.

Some of these positive results include voluntary cancellation of grants by beneficiaries who know they do not qualify for grants; identification of beneficiaries who are drawing grants from outside the borders of the country; duplicate biometrics on the SASSA payroll; and beneficiaries who are not registered on the population register.

“We are busy investigating all the above-mentioned trends and appropriate actions will be taken where we find fraud.”

Missed payments

In line with its objective to improve business processes, SASSA says it continues to invest in the enhancement of its payment system and management information system.

These enhancements include interfaces with other government systems (home affairs and SA Revenue Services); improved user access through biometric access; and automation of the business process through the improved grant application process.

Earlier this month, Petersen said there were challenges in the first two phases of the roll-out of the biometric system.

These included deductions made from social grants by service providers and micro-lenders prior to beneficiaries receiving their grant, equipment malfunctions due to connectivity issues, overcrowding at pay-points, and late payments.

In May, 12 000 people did not receive payments, and this is under investigation, Petersen noted.

Significant improvement

A new tender was awarded for the payment of social grants in January 2012, and the implementation commenced in April 2012.

Petersen said the benefits of this award include an R800 million reduction in administration costs per annum; flexible payment options for beneficiaries, which includes utilisation of the SASSA card at banks and pay-points; and improved payment turnaround times where payments can be accessed on the first of every month anywhere in the country.

“This is a significant improvement from the previous 20-day pay cycle where people were confined to a pay-point on a specific pay day.”

Targeted outcomes

The CEO also said one of her major concerns was the conditions under which the agency served its beneficiaries.

A target for improvement of 102 local offices was set, and 116 were upgraded to suit the new standardised application process.

“Improvements in this regard included changing the office layout, installation of ICT infrastructure, branding and provision of adequate sitting space for applicants and beneficiaries. The approximate cost of this improvement was R43 million,” said Petersen.

She added that SASSA also set a target of improving 300 pay-points nationally in the 2011/12 financial year with a budget allocation of R15 million.

“The agency achieved its target and improved 366 pay-points. Total expenditure, as at 31 March 2012, was R13.8 million. For the 2012/13 financial year, 400 pay-points are earmarked for improvement.”

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