The KwaZulu-Natal regional office of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is reviewing over 180 000 social grant cases, as part of the income verification process.
This came to light during the Portfolio Committee on Social Development’s week-long oversight of the KZN province, which kicked-off on Monday.
SASSA increasingly sees “double-dipping”, with some of its beneficiaries found to be receiving income that was not truthfully disclosed at the time of their social grant application.
The introduction of a mandatory beneficiary biometric enrolment (BBE) system, which went live in September, formed part of the agency’s efforts to root out this behaviour.
During oversight engagement, SASSA KZN’s regional manager Thamo Mzobe said the BBE system had been fully implemented and all 82 local offices in the region have been capacitated, with 901 officials trained to operate the system.
According to Mzobe, of the 901 officials, 748 have already been migrated to the BBE platform, and biometric fingerprint scanners have been issued to every office to enhance the security and efficiency of grant beneficiary registration.
She explained that the 184 828 social grant review cases include those flagged by credit bureaus for economic activity during grant receipt, as well as cases involving multiple bank accounts or duplicate identity document numbers.
In line with the review of the social grant cases, the regional office has 38 officials deployed at the records management centre to oversee the review of identified cases.
“To date, 77 287 reviews have been completed − representing a 77% completion rate. The remaining 107 541 cases are under active review, with finalisation targeted by the end of the current financial year,” notes Mzobe.
SASSA pays social grants for older persons, child support, persons with disabilities and social relief of distress grants, on behalf of the Department of Social Development.
According to SASSA, at the end of June, over 19 million social grants were paid to over 12 million beneficiaries. It notes that the take-up of social grants in June 2025 increased by 18 403. or 0.1%.
The implementation of the biometric enrolment system is an integral part of SASSA’s modernisation plans, to detect and nip in the bud any potentially fraudulent elements in social grant administration.
Additionally, it is to ensure every grant recipient is verifiably authentic and that SASSA’s systems are resilient against manipulation and error, especially in cases involving forged green identity documents that frontline staff cannot reliably detect.
The biometric enrolment will also ensure reliable verification of beneficiary authenticity and proof of life, reduction in inclusion errors, streamlined documentation processes, enhanced audit outcomes and stronger record integrity, as well as public trust in the social assistance programme, says the agency.
The portfolio committee commended the regional office for the significant strides made, highlighting the importance of the digital systems in boosting the integrity and improving the efficiency of the country’s social assistance framework.
Committee chairperson Bridget Masango expressed appreciation for the detailed presentations and candid discussions with officials, saying: “The engagement opened our eyes to the legal and regulatory framework that enables the work of government to happen. We can really see the progress and can imagine what more is possible.”
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