Question NW3197 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Reply:

1.(a) Public servants that received grants:

TABLE 1

No	Province	Number public servants identified by AGSA
1	Eastern Cape	1257
2	Free State	103
3	Gauteng	280
4	KwaZulu-Natal	1102
5	Limpopo	468
6	Mpumalanga	296
7	Northwest	1460
8	Northern Cape	566
9	Western Cape	280
10	National
Total	5812

In March 2023 33833 public servants had their grants lapsed and also referred to the Fraud and Compliance Unit for further investigations as they failed to present themselves to a SASSA office to have their grants reviewed. Below is the distribution of the public servants (according to provinces)[1].

TABLE 2

(i) The 5812 Covid related (refer to Table 1) and 33833 normal grants (refer to Table 2) recipients had their grants lapsed upon identification that they had contravened Section 21 of the Social Assistance Act (furnished untrue information when applying or continue to receive social assistance when they standard of living has changed).

(aa) According to SASSA dataset extracted from Covid and SOCPEN systems, distribution is according to province as per Table 1 and 2 above indicating where grant application was submitted and not according to employing department (be it provincial or national).

(bb) SASSA dataset did not distribute civil servants according to employing department, but according to the province where the application was submitted

(ii) The numbers of civil servants contained on Table 1 and 2 may have qualified through misrepresentation which has been uncovered as SASSA systems were improved and enhanced.

(b) 5812 civil servants benefited from the Covid 19 Social Relief of Distress grant within the period of May to October 2020. Distribution of the 33833 was not provided by SASSA.

2. What total number of public servants have been disciplined for receiving grants they do not qualify to receive in each

(a) Provincial departments: 36

(b) National departments: 6

Misconduct cases of Public Servants who benefited from social grants as at 30 September 2023 - cases referred from 2008)
National/ Provincial department	Number of cases	Number of people
Total		44	42
Eastern Cape	Total	2	2
	Social Development	2	2
Free State	Total	1	1
	Human Settlements	1	1
KwaZulu-Natal	Total	18	18
	Health	6	6
	Public Works	12	12
Limpopo	Total	1	1
	Transport and Community Safety	1	1
National	Total	6	6
	Home Affairs	2	2
	Police	4	4
North West	Total	16	14
	Community Safety and Transport Management	14	12
	Social Development	2	2
Data source: PERSAL
Compiled by the DPSA
Excluding Defence and State Security Agency

3. What total number of cases has her department opened against public servants who benefited from grants that they did not qualify to receive?

To date 1815 cases have been referred to the South African Police Service by SASSA for further criminal investigation for the contravention of the Section 21 of the Social Assistance Act, as it is a criminal offence.

4. What total amount has her department recovered to date from public servants who benefited from grants that they did not qualify to receive?

The recovery of loss is being managed where the employee is located through signing of an acknowledgment of debt that SASSA at provincial office will submit to the Office of the Premier. Where employees refuse to sign acknowledgement of debt forms, Section 300 of the Criminal Procedure Act, will be invoked. DPSA and SASSA will coordinate the process.

End

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