a) In total 165 297 public servants were found to have received social grants. These were suspended in September 2021, because it was suspected they did not qualify for the grant they had been receiving. All 165 297 cases were then subjected to a full review process, as required in terms of the Social Assistance Act. Progress with the review process is as follows:
(i) 63 212 have been found to qualify for the grant after they completed the review process.
(ii) 3 268 have been found not to qualify for the grant after they completed the review process.
The grant review process is not yet finalised and 98 817 beneficiaries are still to be reviewed.
The process to determine eligibility is an intensive manual process. The teams are still engaging the public servants as they come forward to complete the review process. All those found to have received a grant to which they were not entitled will repay the amount, and also face disciplinary action through their respective departments.
b) An amount of twelve million six hundred thousand rand (R 12, 6 million) has been recovered from public servants who have been found not to qualify for the grant that they received.
c) In following consequence management procedures due processes must be followed. The affected public servants have completed debt acknowledgement forms to enable SASSA to recover the debt. This information has been shared with each Province and affected government departments for them to be able to take appropriate action. To date, SASSA has not receive any reports of the outcomes of these processes.