South Africa: Sassa Grant Reviews Cause Systemic Chaos for Vulnerable Citizens

A sweeping grant review process by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), aimed at tackling fraud, is leaving some vulnerable South Africans with legitimate claims to social grants stranded without critical income support. An intensified grant review process by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has turned into a nightmare for South Africa's most vulnerable. Launched to weed out fraud, the nationwide audit has instead trapped lawful beneficiaries of various grants in bureaucratic chaos - suspending vital payouts without warning and forcing thousands into endless, pre-dawn queues at overcrowded offices to undergo verification processes and biometric registration . Concerns around the grant review process come at a time when Sassa, the Department of Social Development and the National Treasury are preparing to appeal a landmark 2025 high court ruling that found critical aspects of the Social Relief of Distress Grant system, including its review system, unlawfully excluded millions of otherwise eligible applicants. The case was brought by the Institute for Economic Justice and #PayTheGrants, represented by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute. The state's appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal on Tuesday, 25 August. READ MORE Legal victory for those excluded from SRD grant January 24, 2025 According to Sassa, the driving force behind the reviews is to strengthen the ability to detect and prevent fraud, eliminate irregular payments and ensure that social grants are... Read the full story on Daily Maverick . AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 500 news and information items daily from over 90 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.