The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) presented its 2015/16 annual report to the Select Committee on Social Services on Tuesday, 8 November 2016. In its report, the Agency provided a status report on beneficiaries of social assistance, social assistance trends per province, as well as child grant beneficiaries.
The report showed an overall increase (2.1%) in social assistance benefits since 2014/15, bringing the total number of social assistance grant benefits to 16 991 634 for 2015/16. These benefits include child grants (74%), older person’s grants (19%) and disability grants (7%).
Gauteng (4.7%) and the Western Cape (3.1%) showed the highest growth rates in beneficiaries. Most child grant allocations are in KZN (24%) and EC (16%) with all provinces allocating the bulk (<90% ) of allotments to the Child Support Grant (CSG).
In May the Department published regulations in a bid to stop unauthorised and illegal deductions from social grants, but these regulations had been challenged in a recent court case. The Black Sash and others have asked the High Court for the right to intervene in four cases brought against the Department of Social Development and SASSA by Net1 and some of its subsidiaries. Net1 owns Cash Paymaster Services (CPS, the company which pays out the grants. This and the Black Sash-led "Hands Off Our Grants" campaign continue to highlight the illegal and fraudulent deductions social grant beneficiaries continue to experience.
Access full meeting report here and see infographic below for more on SASSA beneficiaries:
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