The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has confirmed that criminal cases have been opened against those who defrauded it and benefited from the social relief of distress grant.
The agency and the Social Development Department on Thursday briefed Parliament on annual reports and audit findings.
Sassa has suffered major financial losses due to fraud, with some wealthy people benefiting from the social relief of distress grant.
The Agency’s spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi says, “The good thing to our advantage is that these individuals have been identified and we have opened a case with the SAPS (South African Police Service). It is theft and our fraud management unit would have the processes, but I must say some of these processes take time. We will make sure we do put it in public in terms of the arrests and we don’t supervise SAPS or the law enforcement agency, but we have got confidence that those individuals who defrauded the state will face the full might of the law.”
VIDEO: Sassa reportedly hit by major financial losses due to fraud:
Arrests
In June, three suspects aged between 25 and 45 years were arrested after they were allegedly found in possession of 50 Sassa cards and 20 EasyPay cards at the coastal town of Umkomaas, south of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal.
Police said the trio was spotted by security guards withdrawing and transferring money at different ATMs in the area.
“As they returned to their vehicle, police were waiting for them. It was established that the suspects had transferred R360 000 into a private bank account. All three suspects were placed under arrest for possession of stolen property. More charges are expected to be added. They are expected to appear before the Scottburgh Magistrates Court on Monday, 6 June 2022,” said police spokesperson Nqobile Gwala.
