Grant recipients bear the brunt of government-facilitated fraud and corruption
12 December 2022
In a story that has sadly become all too common in South Africa, the poorest of the poor are once again struggling to access their grant money as a result of massive and sustained incompetence at government agencies. Yesterday, the Sunday Times revealed that hundreds of millions of rands was stolen by criminals, with the assistance of collaborators employed by Postbank.
This follows Postbank's confirmation last week that grant recipients will also be unable to draw their grant money from ATMs as a result of criminals targeting the grant system.
To call this criminal is a drastic understatement. The alleviation of poverty is one of the most central roles of government, and forms the basis of SASSA's mandate. This is the latest in a long line of events which prove beyond any doubt that the ANC’s national government is both unwilling and incapable of helping the people it is mandated to serve. Already content with devastating the country’s power infrastructure and driving up the prices of fuel and basic foods, the ANC is now facilitating the theft of millions from those who can least afford it.
This also proves that SASSA, Postbank, and other government agencies are failing to address a rising trend of fraud, extortion, and loan-sharking relating to grant payments. In September, the Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Development was briefed on the use of SASSA cards as collateral for predatory loans. While SASSA had made good progress in combatting this trend at that time, this latest development stands to undo any progress in combatting criminality in the social relief sector.
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Social Development Dan Plato says: “It astounds me how callous national government can be. Tonight, citizens of South Africa and the Western Cape will go to bed hungry, tired and dreadfully certain that their needs cannot be addressed by their national government. At the same time, the President, national Minister of Social Development, and other ANC figures will tonight sleep in luxury at their national conference, more concerned with their party politics than the plight of the hungry and desperate masses who have put them in power.
Over the festive season, I will engage with Western Cape SASSA management and the provincial Department of Social Development to discuss interim solutions that will get money into the hands of grant recipients as quickly as possible.”
Issued by Dan Plato, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Social Development, 12 December 2022
