Sassa paid more than R31m to the dead between 2023-2024

The South African Social Services Agency (Sassa) has paid more than R31m to deceased beneficiaries of Social Grants between 2023 and 2024.

This was revealed in a written response to a question asked by the DA in parliament.

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The dead getting social grants

In the reply, the Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu confirmed these irregular Sassa payments had been happening over the last three years.

“Yes, there are instances where deceased social grant recipients have been wrongly paid. This happens when a grant beneficiary dies after proof of life is confirmed by DHA and when the payment run is released to the beneficiary’s bank account,” Zulu said.

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The monetary value of such payments in each of the past three years is as follows: 2021/2022 – R59 256 000, 2022/2023 – R50 372 000, 2023/2024 – R31 928 000.

“To prevent the withdrawal of social grant monies, Sassa freezes the accounts of the deceased beneficiaries through Post Bank and follows up with a letter to the next of kin to return the money to Sassa,” Zulu said.

Zulu said Sassa works closely with the Department of Home Affairs on deceased data validation and conducts monthly checks to confirm the life status of beneficiaries before a payment is generated.

“Payment is effected to beneficiaries who are confirmed to be alive, as per validation outcomes,” she said.

Political parties such as the ATM have expressed outrage at the wastage of funds through incorrect payments by Sassa.

“The ATM expresses deep concern regarding the revelation of irregularities in the distribution of social grants by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa). The information provided raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the South African government in oversight,” ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona said.

Ntshona said these kinds of irregularities should be unacceptable in a country with a high unemployment rate and a large gap between the rich and the poor.