Sassa celebrates better financial controls but still loses R1m through wasteful expenditure

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has significantly reduced its wasteful expenditure, which it says is down to more oversight and training.

Sassa says the improvements made in its financial controls will allow it to better administer and distribute social grants to millions of its beneficiaries.

Dramatic drop in irregular expenditure at Sassa

Sassa recently presented its 2023/2024 Audit Action Plan Progress Report to the Portfolio Committee on Social Development in Parliament.

Sassa says it implemented strategies to avoid incurring more irregularities in the procurement of goods and services.

Irregular expenditure in the 2018/2019 financial year was R1.8 billion. This improved to R34.2 million in the 2023/2024 financial year.

Sassa said it was also able to reduce its irregular expenditure to R1.1 million in the 2024/2025 financial year after previous cases were pardoned by National Treasury over the years.  

Though Sassa Acting Chief Executive Officer, Themba Matlou, commended the effort by officials to reduce wasteful expenditure, he acknowledged that more still needs to be done.

In a media statement, Sassa reported that from the 2018/2019 financial year it achieved unqualified audit outcomes, albeit with material findings from the Auditor-General of South Africa. Additionally, it has experienced significant declines in irregular andwasteful expenditure over the years.

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Here’s what the Sassa audit findings are attributed to:

• Awareness and training programme on supply chain management and procurement prescripts. Requested National Treasury, Department of Trade and Industry and internal inductions.
• Consequence management against officials who were found to have transgressed the supply chain process.
• Pre-audit of all new procurements to prevent irregular contracts.
• Strengthened regional oversight.