iej-ubig-13-fact-sheet-2-9fb4f3125c70e2c5.pdf

This fact sheet by the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) examines fraud within South Africa's social grant system. It argues that while the government focuses its crackdown on individual beneficiaries through automated surveillance and strict eligibility reviews, the most significant fraud by value is perpetrated by government officials and predatory third parties. The document contends that these anti-fraud measures disproportionately exclude eligible, vulnerable people—including seniors and persons with disabilities—due to flawed data and onerous compliance requirements.

• The majority of social grant fraud by value is committed by government insiders and predatory third parties rather than individual beneficiaries. Reported cases include a "ghost card" syndicate involving eleven accused, including eight Johannesburg SASSA officials, who allegedly stole R260 million in 2025.
• Government anti-fraud measures, such as biometric verification and big data surveillance, primarily target the poor and often result in the wrongful exclusion of eligible beneficiaries. Research indicates that automated verification via banks and government databases has led to the wrongful exclusion of between one-third and one-half of eligible applicants.
• The in-person review process used by SASSA to verify eligibility is severely under-resourced and creates significant barriers for the vulnerable. In May 2025, 210,000 people were placed under review, yet SASSA reported a capacity to process only 25,000 reviews per month.
• Specific fraud prevention tools are described as having low effectiveness. Credit bureau checks often rely on outdated historical data, impacting pensioners and disability grant recipients, while bank account checks are flawed because inflows (such as loans or child maintenance) are not always personal income; the IEJ found 76% of SRD grant rejections based on bank checks were incorrect.
• Private actors exploit beneficiaries through deceptive practices, including illicit credit schemes where cards are retained for loan repayments and the use of mimic websites to steal personal information. A former SASSA contractor, Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), was accused of using beneficiary data for predatory financial products.
• The government's approach to fraud is driven by National Treasury's compliance conditions on SASSA's operating budget, which mandate the detection and cancellation of grants for ineligible beneficiaries. The IEJ recommends moving away from narrow poverty targeting and focusing instead on rooting out public sector corruption.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (n.d.). iej-ubig-13-fact-sheet-2-9fb4f3125c70e2c5.pdf. https://www.iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IEJ-UBIG-13-fact-sheet-2.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. iej-ubig-13-fact-sheet-2-9fb4f3125c70e2c5.pdf. n.d. https://www.iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IEJ-UBIG-13-fact-sheet-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=iej-ubig-13-fact-sheet-2-9fb4f3125c70e2c5.pdf |url=https://www.iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IEJ-UBIG-13-fact-sheet-2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjusticendiejubig13factsheet29fb4f3125c70e2c5pdf, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{iej-ubig-13-fact-sheet-2-9fb4f3125c70e2c5.pdf}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, url = {https://www.iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IEJ-UBIG-13-fact-sheet-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }