The National Treasury has set its sights on the use of technology to eliminate “double-dipping” in social grants and other programmes. such as the community works initiative.
This is according to the treasury’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) technical guidelines 2026, published yesterday.
South Africa’s current budget process has not kept pace with the country’s evolving fiscal, institutional and political realities, it states.
The National Treasury notes that a review of the budget process revealed critical limitation of the processes, including fragmented decision-making, poor policy-budget alignment and weak consensus on trade-offs in the context of competing priorities and limited fiscal space.
“A comprehensive budget reform will be implemented for the 2026 budget that aims to clarify trade-offs, reduce waste and prioritise high-impact programmes,” it says.
The National Treasury is also examining options for using technology to streamline the budget process.
It notes that the MTEF calendar and its associated deliverables will be digitised using platforms such as Microsoft Planner and PowerApps (already available to departments).
This will allow the National Treasury and departments to track deadlines, submissions and interdependencies in real-time, it adds.
The use of technology to curb social grant double-dipping – obtaining an income from two different sources – comes as the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is reviewing the social service to ascertain the eligibility of identified beneficiaries suspected of having additional income that was not disclosed.
According to SASSA, at the end of June, there were 19 255 088 social grants paid to 12 125 149 beneficiaries. It notes that the take-up of social grants in June 2025 increased by 18 403 or 0.1%.
Last year, the National Treasury said it will impose conditions on institutions like SASSA, as it pertains to crosschecks on databases, to improve the validity of social grant payments.
After reports surfaced that social grant payments had been suspended amid the review process, SASSA CEO Themba Matlou assured grant beneficiaries and the public that SASSA is undertaking the social grants review process for the better good of the government fiscus, ensuring grants are paid to eligible beneficiaries, while all the fraudulent elements are rooted out.
Matlou stressed that in terms of the social assistance legislative framework, beneficiaries are legally required to fully disclose all sources of income during their initial application, adding that they are obligated to inform SASSA of any changes to their financial circumstances after their application has been approved. Failure to comply with these requirements constitutes a violation of the social assistance legislation and may result in corrective action.
“The review of social grants helps identify beneficiaries who may no longer qualify due to changes in financial, medical, or legal circumstances and serves as a confirmation of life or existence, ensuring grants are not paid out to deceased individuals, or those who have relocated without updating their records,” he said.
“More importantly, reviews allow SASSA to detect and prevent cases where individuals continue receiving grants despite being listed on payroll systems of other entities (public or private).”
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