Nearly a week after the scheduled payment date, over 150 000 people have yet to receive their social grant payments for January, with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) attributing the delay to fraud concerns and issues in their monthly verification process.
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While initial estimates indicated that approximately 70 000 people had been impacted by the payment delays, Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi confirmed that the current number of affected beneficiaries stands at more than 150 000.
Letsatsi explained that the issue was brought to their attention by the Auditor General, which prompted an investigation into certain payments with apparent irregularities, reports SABC News.
‘In this instance, you would find that there is an increase suddenly of people opening bank accounts, targeting one bank account. When we investigate, we find that the real beneficiary, when they come to withdraw the money month-end, there is no money because it has been taken by fraudsters,’ the publication quoted Letsatsi as saying.
In response to the detection of fraudulent activities, according to Sassa, payment to the accounts in question was suspended when beneficiaries failed to verify their accounts after the grant agency reached out to them.
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Letsatsi also added that, in addition to fraud concerns, most beneficiaries affected by payment delays had changed from the agency’s card to bank-issued cards, resulting in unusually high numbers of failed verifications.
Letsatsi said the agency conducts a routine verification process every month to prevent fraudulent claims and ensure the integrity of the social grant system.
‘We are aware of non-payments, and this is a result of bank verifications, meaning that the details provided to us do not perfectly match or correspond to the ones registered in the bank. For example, you may find that a name has been misspelt or a letter is missing,’ Sowetan Live quoted Letsatsi as saying.
‘We are busy calling [those affected] to fix these human errors and once we have called you, you will receive your money in no time. We understand the frustrations that people have to eat and buy other needed stuff.’
Despite the widespread concern, Sassa denied any exceptional circumstances and attributed the glitch to human error.
He added that beneficiaries who had not received their money should visit their nearest Sassa office to verify their details so they could access their grants.
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