R350 grant investigation: Committee demands comprehensive review of social grant system

THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Social Development wants the investigation into the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant expanded to include all other types of grants.

This happened as the Social Development Department and South African Social Services Agency (Sassa) were granted an extension to probe the application and payment of the R350 grants after two Stellenbosch University computer science students conducted a survey and found that there was no authentication on the SRD grant system and that it was too easy to apply for the grant.

The portfolio committee had initially given the department and Sassa 30 days to conduct a full investigation into the weaknesses in the application and payment system.

Briefing the media on the activities of the committee, chairperson Bridget Masango said they have prioritised the investigation into the SRD grants and other types of grants administered by Sassa.

“The committee is keenly awaiting for the finalisation of the investigation on weaknesses in the SRD grant application and payment system

“The committee is of the view the investigation should be expanded to the entire system of application and payment of grants,” Masango said, adding that there has been fraudulent activities that have been prevalent in the social grant system.

Masango said they extended the investigation to give the minister time to do a much deeper investigation into the system.

“We did not give the minister 30 days. We realise the more you time-constrain and hurry up, the more you leave things out in the investigation.

“We will confirm the time when the committee approves the programme for the fourth term for this work,” she said about the anticipated deadline for the completion of the investigation.

Masango also said Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe has agreed to the extension of the investigation.

“When the department came to present the findings of the investigation they did, that is when the minister herself realised the terms of reference they had for the initial investigation that there is more that needed to be investigated, so yes the minister knows this,” she said.

Masango went on to say that close collaboration was also required with other sister departments that assist in assembling the social award applications, such as the Department of Home Affairs, as the applications contained ID numbers.

She stated should the investigation implicate any officials, they would be brought to book.

“Until proven to have done something, you can’t get rid of them. Those whether are an employee, a stakeholder or a service provider found to have committed a crime, they will be brought to book.”

Masango said the committee would also prioritise the partnership between the department and NPOs.

The challenge faced by NGOs was that they did not get funding, and some got it late or half the actual amount while vulnerable people were left stranded as some organisations closed their doors.

“This means that people were not getting the services they deserved from the government. This is even more concerning when the acting director-general said almost 70% of government work is done by NPOs.

“The bulk of work is done by organisations that do not get payment for work they do, leading to recipients without services being rendered to them.”

In addition, Masango said the committee had seen that many people appeared to misunderstand the department's job and mistake it for Sassa’’.

“We agreed that we need to strengthen oversight of the other aspects of the department because the department is not just rendering grant but there are other services. The department is more than grants, it renders more services to the poor and the vulnerable.”