PRETORIA, Gauteng — While the government celebrates the financial success of the SASSA social grant review, the Black Sash is raising the alarm over the severe unintended consequences facing honest beneficiaries. The aggressive verification drive, designed to root out fraud, is reportedly inflicting significant hardship on vulnerable individuals who are struggling to navigate the new bureaucratic and digital hurdles.
The Department of Social Development and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) recently reported that the ongoing review of over 350,000 grants successfully saved an estimated 1 billion rand last year. Officials project an additional 1.5 billion rand in savings for the upcoming year, emphasizing that the exercise is strictly to ensure funds only reach the correct, eligible recipients.
However, Black Sash Gauteng regional manager Vincent Skhosana argues that protecting public funds must not come at the expense of the country’s most vulnerable. He noted that for many households, the social grant is their sole source of income, and suspending it for even a single month causes devastating harm. Skhosana stressed that the process must remain transparent, warning against punishing individuals simply because they failed to secure a specific document within a tight timeframe.
A primary concern highlighted by the advocacy group is the heavy reliance on digital verification tools, such as E-IFE certification and WhatsApp services. Skhosana pointed out that these modern solutions ignore the lived realities of South Africa’s 19.5 million grant beneficiaries. In rural provinces, inadequate digital infrastructure, the high cost of mobile data, and a lack of smartphones with cameras capable of facial verification create massive barriers.
Consequently, many elderly and rural beneficiaries are forced to rely on third parties to help them navigate these digital platforms. Skhosana warned that this exposes highly sensitive personal information, including ID books and photocopies, to potential misuse and data exploitation.
While deploying physical support staff to local offices is a proposed solution, Skhosana noted that logistical nightmares persist. Many beneficiaries reside more than 20 kilometers from these offices and simply cannot afford the transport costs required to reach them. He called for targeted studies to map the movement and needs of vulnerable populations to ensure support is deployed where it is actually accessible.
The conversation also addressed the Social Development Minister Buti’s stated objective of restoring dignity to the agency. Skhosana painted a grim picture of the current reality on the ground, which starkly contrasts with this goal. According to community-based monitoring conducted across the country, beneficiaries are forced to arrive at local offices as early as 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m.
Due to severe staff shortages, these early arrivals often wait in lines for more than four hours. This massive delay violates SASSA’s previous normative standards, which dictated that no individual should wait longer than 55 minutes to receive service.
The physical conditions at many of these offices further strip recipients of their dignity. Skhosana detailed a lack of adequate shelter, seating (which is only provided inside the building), and bathroom facilities. These conditions expose the elderly to health risks, while safety concerns and the threat of crime force many to travel to the offices in large groups. Furthermore, the sheer volume of people often leads to frustrated and poor attitudes from overworked staff.
Ultimately, Skhosana compared the current SASSA experience to the service one would expect at a private bank, where management intervenes to assist customers when queues stall. Instead, many grant recipients are turned away after waiting hours without being helped, forcing them to spend even more money on transport to return on another day. While the financial savings of the SASSA social grant review are undeniable, the Black Sash maintains that the system must urgently find a balance that protects the treasury without penalizing the very people it was designed to support.
