For 14 months a stranger in Mamelodi, northeast of Pretoria, had been using Sipho Mayo’s ID number and name to collect his old-age grant of R2,400 while the rightful beneficiary drowned in poverty.
Mayo from Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, first found out about the fraudulent withdrawals in June last year when he went to apply for his old-age grant at the local SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) offices, and was told a person 100km away in Mamelodi had been claiming his money for six months.
While his application was rejected, Sassa did not take any immediate action, and the Mamelodi man kept getting the grant for the next nine months, collecting just over R33,000.
However, his gravy train ended this week when Sowetan received Mayo’s complaint and forwarded it to the Sassa head office in Pretoria on Monday. The agency blocked the imposter’s Sassa card, flagged his ID number, and approved Mayo’s grant application.
Sassa said it was initially not aware of Mayo’s case. “Upon receiving this [Sowetan] inquiry, the grant of the Mamelodi person has lapsed until he visits home affairs [offices] to apply for another ID,” said Sassa spokesperson Andile Tshona.
“What we’ve discovered is that an ID number was issued to two individuals. This is not Sassa’s fault; and we believe the Beneficiary Biometric Enrollment that was introduced in September 2025 will assist in cases like these.”
These news ended Mayo’s nightmare which began soon after his money from his private retirement fund ran out – leaving him without a stable source of income and forcing him to rely heavily on his wife’s grant.
“I’ve been surviving through the help of my wife, who has been very patient with me. She has been taking care of the groceries and other costs. Both of us were carried by her Sassa grant from June until today,” he said.
Mayo said his ID was verified by the department of home affairs in November 2025 through the National Identification System (Hanis). He said he had been dealing with the Vosloorus and Mamelodi offices without much progress.
Tshona confirmed the Mamelodi man had applied for and was approved for a grant in January 2025. Since then, the person had received a total of R33,360.96.
Mayo said progress only began after he approached Sowetan. “On Monday, I started receiving multiple calls from the head office in Pretoria, and another call came from Mamelodi asking for documentation. On Tuesday, they called again to tell me they have fixed my problem, and I need to go to Vosloorus to update my application,” he said.
Despite resolving the issue, Sassa said Mayo will not be compensated for the months he went without receiving his grant, as the agency maintains the error did not originate from its system.
While Mayo is expected to begin receiving his grant from April, his experience highlights ongoing challenges within the system, particularly around identity verification and fraud, which continue to affect vulnerable beneficiaries across the country.
During his Budget Speech in February, finance minister Enoch Godongwana said about 291,581 social grant recipients had been flagged for review due to stricter income and verification checks.
Sowetan
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