The office of the Auditor-General will today brief Parliament’s Select Committee on Health and Social Services about its findings on the COVID-19 stimulus relief package.
It will focus on the R350 social grant that the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has been administering to distressed unemployed people.
The office of the Auditor-General earlier said that about 5,6 million people had received the grant by the time the audit was conducted.
It said 67 000 beneficiaries were identified as fraudulent. The briefing is also expected to discuss top-up grants, the distribution of food parcels as well as fraud-risk areas.
R350 grant reinstated
During his last address to the nation in July, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the reinstatement of the R350 grant as he moved the country to Alert Level 3 of the COVID-19 lockdown.
The President also said the grant will be paid until March 2022 in an attempt to help struggling households.
Ramaphosa said R27 billion had been set aside for this purpose.
At the beginning of August Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said more than 517 000 applications for the R350 social relief grant, that were previously approved, were yet to be collected from the SA Post Office.
She urged applicants who have not claimed or received their payments to urgently contact SASSA.
