The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) appealed to families of deceased beneficiaries to report their death accordingly and not to withdraw the funds of the deceased beneficiary.
By alerting Sassa of the beneficiary’s death, it will ensure Sassa cancels the relevant grants and avoid arrests in connection to fraudulent withdrawals of funds from the social grants payment.
Sassa spokesperson Senzeni Ngubeni explained that when a death is registered at the Departement of Home Affairs, Sassa will automatically be notified and will cancel the social grant immediately.
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He said the Home Affairs Population Register is linked with the Sassa SOCPEN database.
Sassa warned families of beneficiaries who died before the beginning of the following month not to withdraw the grant paid in the account of the deceased beneficiary at the beginning of the month.
“By withdrawing the money, families are committing a serious fraud and criminal offence,” said Ngubeni
He said the Social Assistance Act demands that Sassa recover the social grant payment withdrawn on behalf of the deceased.
“The law will demand that the money be paid back to Sassa or face the processes of law enforcement agencies.”
For more information, contact Sassa’s help desk toll-free number: 0800 60 10 11 between 08:00 and 16:00 during weekdays Monday to Friday.
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