Action Against SASSA Fraudsters
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) aims to help the country’s people financially. To make this intent true, they are providing several grants to people. The donations ensure the financial aid of only deserving people living in South Africa. Unfortunately, some fraudsters and undeserving people have illegally taken advantage of the SASSA grants by becoming the SASSA beneficiary. Some of them use the SASSA cards of other beneficiaries to withdraw payments. Read on to learn more about these Sassa fraudsters.
List of SASSA Fraudsters
The Post Office Fraud
Post Office is a widely used payment method for withdrawing SASSA grants. Some people are committing fraud and taking money from the post office illegally. South African police arrested four people accusing them of post office fraud.
According to police, they have stolen the amount of R 10.1 million. Hawks arrested them in the town of Komani, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The fraudsters also included the post office branch manager and teller. They made fake beneficiary accounts and withdrew transactions in illegal terms.
SASSA Card Fraud
A report states that security officials caught 34 people withdrawing payments from other beneficiaries’ SASSA cards. They all were caught possessing around 100 SASSA cards. The money withdrawn was worth R100 000.
In 2019, police caught 20000 people for illegal possession of SASSA cards. SASSA card-related fraud has been going on for a decade.
Non-Qualified Beneficiaries Fraud
Half of a billion ineligible applications were made for SASSA grants. Many people benefited from SASSA grants despite being unqualified.
Financial Loss of SASSA
While briefing the parliament, the minister of the department of social development gave a report. According to the report, the agency has suffered from several financial losses.
According to the minister of DSD, more than 1173 people illegally benefited from SASSA grants. The cases of these fraudsters are leading from 2012 till 2022. Of the 1173 people, 761 were officials, 221 were SASSA grant beneficiaries, 120 were money lenders, and the rest were common people.
As per the report, SASSA has suffered a loss of R 536 683 179. The amount is not exact, as some cases of fraudsters are pending. In 2012, SASSA suffered a loss of R 109 million. From 2018 to 2019, the agency paid a loss of R 215 million.
Responding to a question in the briefing, minister Zulu said that fraudsters stole 82042 SASSA cards in half a decade. Because of this robbery, SASSA has lost R 23 million.
Meanwhile, Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said the agency had lost R 3 200000 in 2019 fraud cases. The fraud cases of 2022 are under investigation. SASSA will release actual figures once it’s completed. Here, you can check Sassa Status.
Action Against SASSA Fraudsters
If any person is caught in fraud related to SASSA, police will arrest him and take him to court. The court will decide the punishment for the fraudster according to his crime. Many people have gone to jail for five years, ten years, or fifteen years in the past decade for committing SASSA-related crimes.
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What If You Experienced SASSA Grant-Related Fraud?
If you experience any fraud with your SASSA card, like transactions from your SASSA card without your permission, immediately report it to the agency.
We have mentioned below the instructions from which you can report to SASSA about your fraud.
- First, receive the SASSA fraud affidavit form. You can get it from the nearest SASSA office or post office branch.
- Fill out the form and sign it. You can submit the SASSA form to the post office or email it. The email ID is [email protected].
Note: Take the following documents with you while submitting your fraud.
- Authentic copy of your ID
- Certified copy of your SASSA card
- Complete the SASSA fraud affidavit form.
What To Do If You Lost Your SASSA Card?
If you lose your SASSA card, immediately report it to SASSA. They will ban your lost card and issue a new card to you.
For further inquiries, don’t hesitate to get in touch with SASSA.
Call them at 080060 10 11. You can also email them. Their email ID is [email protected].
Investigations with SAPO And Police
SASSA has been investigating these fraud cases in collaboration with the South African Post Office and police. Every year, they discover millions of fraud cases. The cases of 2022 are under investigation.
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