Question NW316 to the Minister of Social Development
12 March 2024 - NW316
Masango, Ms B to ask the Minister of Social Development
(1)What (a) is the breakdown of the total number of complaints that SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) has received relating to the duplication of identity document (ID) numbers for each of the different grants including the Social Relief of Distress Grant for every year since 2020 and (b) was the outcome of these complaints; (2) How many of the lodged complaints were due to ID fraud by (a) public servants outside her department, (b) SASSA employees and (c) employee of her department; (3) What mechanisms have been put in place to combat fraud at her department and SASSA?
Reply:
The table below provides the number of official complaints received during the period 2020 until 2024; and the outcomes of the complaints.
|
Year |
Number of complaints |
Breakdown per grant type |
Outcome |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2020 |
106 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2021 |
40 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2022 |
119 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2023 |
424 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2024 |
256 |
|
|
(2) Thus far there’s no linkage of the lodged complaints on ID fraud with a) public servants outside the department, b) SASSA employees and c) employees of the department.
(3) The issue of “duplicate IDs” SASSA has identified two situations mainly affects older clients where two persons share the same ID number, unknowingly. These cases are not necessarily fraudulent, but in part the result of various legacy issues. Such matters are flagged and referred to the Department of Affairs for investigation and resolution.
(ii) Recently, the same issue of “duplicate IDs” is affecting those applying for the SRD grant. These are not necessarily duplicate IDs but some form of Identity theft. Fraudsters steal and use another person’s ID number and personal details to apply for the SRD grant; as well as open accounts with private banks, pretending to be the rightful owners of the ID.
When such cases are detected, SASSA will flag the applicant as fraudulent and require the applicant to provide a HANIS report to confirm their identity. SASSA is also implementing a system that will allow for these clients to digitally verify themselves through a facial recognition process. We however, cannot make the specific fraud prevention mechanisms public as this would weaken the mechanism and defeat their purpose. At high level, as part of the detective mechanism, we conduct compliance inspections and systems to detect any internal control deficiencies across the regions. As part of corrective mechanism, we conduct investigations and ensure that corrective measures are taken. Where necessary, members of the South African Police Service also assist in the investigation of fraud cases.