SASSA defends grant reviews after reports of payments to ineligible beneficiaries

SASSA is defending its grant verification measures following reports of payments to people allegedly ineligible for social assistance during the 2025/2026 financial year.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has defended its social grant verification measures following reports that people who were allegedly ineligible received payments during the 2025/2026 financial year, insisting that the reviews are intended to prevent fraud and ensure grants go to qualifying beneficiaries.

The agency's response follows issues raised before the Portfolio Committee on Social Development on Wednesday, October 7, concerning payments made during the financial year.

SASSA said criticism that its intensified grant reviews and eLife certification processes were intended to exclude legitimate beneficiaries was incorrect.

“SASSA wishes to reiterate that this is not the purpose of the reviews or certification processes,” the agency said.

SASSA said social assistance was a constitutional obligation and a critical safety net for millions of vulnerable South Africans, but added that the system had to be protected against fraud, abuse, errors and misrepresentation.

The agency said beneficiaries were responsible for informing it of changes in their circumstances that could affect their eligibility, including changes in income, employment, marital status, banking details and residential circumstances.

“A social grant is not an unconditional entitlement that continues irrespective of changes in a beneficiary's circumstances,” SASSA said.

It described grant reviews as an administrative control mechanism to establish whether beneficiaries continued to meet the requirements for assistance.

“The integrity of the social grants system cannot be protected by avoiding reviews simply because reviews may be uncomfortable or inconvenient,” the agency said.

SASSA said it had intensified eLife certification to establish whether beneficiaries were still alive and were the legitimate recipients of grants.

The process was intended to help prevent payments where a beneficiary had died, their continued existence was uncertain or another person might be unlawfully accessing their grant.

The agency maintained that the reviews and certification processes were not designed to arbitrarily terminate grants, but to verify beneficiaries' continued eligibility and prevent fraudulent payments.

“Where beneficiaries are legitimately entitled to social assistance, they should not fear a process designed to verify that they remain eligible,” SASSA said.