Ukukhusela oGogo: Ukunqanda ulwaphulo mthetho ‘lobuqhetseba kwimali yendodla’ eMzantsi Afrika

The document examines the nature of social grant fraud in South Africa, asserting that while the government focuses on policing beneficiaries, the majority of high-value fraud is perpetrated by government officials and contractors. It critiques current automated and biometric verification systems for creating barriers to access for the poor, elderly, and disabled, effectively excluding eligible recipients from essential support.

• Analysis of reported fraud cases indicates that the majority of high-value fraud in the social grant system is committed by government officials, employees, contractors, and predatory groups like money lenders, rather than the beneficiaries themselves.
• Between 2014 and 2025, documented cases of fraud involving government officials and contractors account for at least R354.88 million stolen from the grant system.
• Government anti-fraud measures, including risk algorithms and bank account monitoring, often result in the wrongful exclusion of eligible beneficiaries. For example, 76% of SRD grant application rejections based on bank checks were found to be inaccurate.
• The use of biometric verification (fingerprints and facial recognition) creates significant barriers for vulnerable groups, particularly the elderly and disabled, and may exhibit racial bias against Black people.
• The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) lacks the capacity to manage the volume of manual audits it mandates; for instance, in May 2025, 210,000 people were placed under review while SASSA could only process 25,000 per month.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2025). Ukukhusela oGogo: Ukunqanda ulwaphulo mthetho ‘lobuqhetseba kwimali yendodla’ eMzantsi Afrika. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IEJ-UBIG-13-fact-sheet-isiXhosa-1.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Ukukhusela oGogo: Ukunqanda ulwaphulo mthetho ‘lobuqhetseba kwimali yendodla’ eMzantsi Afrika. 2025. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IEJ-UBIG-13-fact-sheet-isiXhosa-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Ukukhusela oGogo: Ukunqanda ulwaphulo mthetho ‘lobuqhetseba kwimali yendodla’ eMzantsi Afrika |date=November 2025 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IEJ-UBIG-13-fact-sheet-isiXhosa-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjustice2025ukukhusela, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Ukukhusela oGogo: Ukunqanda ulwaphulo mthetho ‘lobuqhetseba kwimali yendodla’ eMzantsi Afrika}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IEJ-UBIG-13-fact-sheet-isiXhosa-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }