The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has warned family members who withdraw money from the account of a deceased beneficiary, that they are committing a serious criminal offence.
“We have noted with shock and concern that money belonging to beneficiaries who died before the beginning of the following month’s payment cycle gets withdrawn by some family members. The grant is paid into the beneficiary’s account at the beginning of the new month on the understanding that the grant is meant for the beneficiary. Social grant payments are not transferable without following legislated procedures as prescribed by the Social Assistance Act,” said Senzeni Ngubeni, the Mpumalanga Sassa spokesperson.
She added that family members are advised not to withdraw the money paid in the account of the deceased beneficiary.
“If the money is withdrawn, Sassa has the right to approach the concerned family with the aim of recovering the money illegally withdrawn.”
Senzeni added there are several ways in which the grant can be reported to Sassa:
• The Home Affairs population register is linked to Sassa’s SOCPEN database, so when a death is registered at Home Affairs, Sassa will automatically be notified and will cancel the grant.
• If the grant is not stopped after one month, a nominated family member can visit any Sassa local office to cancel it.
• If the money is not withdrawn for three consecutive months the grant will automatically be cancelled and the money will be returned to Sassa.
For more information, contact Sassa’s Customer Care Unit on 013 754 9439/ 9428 or our hotline number – 0800 60 10 11 – from 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday.
