SOWETAN | Sassa should protect vulnerable pensioners

The government pays over R133m in grant deductions every month to insurance companies that have been authorised to receive money from social grants for funeral policies.

The payments, however, appear to be not all above board after some beneficiaries alleged that they had been duped into signing up for funeral cover with offers of free food parcels.

Complaints emanating from these allegations have been recorded in several provinces, according to the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa), with Limpopo and Gauteng reflecting higher numbers because of beneficiary populations.

Furthermore, social justice activists in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal have been helping dozens of beneficiaries who are desperately seeking to stop unlawful deductions from their grants.

The revelations have exposed the vulnerabilities faced by beneficiaries, especially the elderly, and lack of integrity in the systems used by Sassa to onboard insurance companies for payment.

Sassa confirmed to Sowetan that at least 124 disputes involving policy deductions have been lodged with it since July last year.

These disputes range from claims that agents took beneficiaries’ ID numbers under the guise of registering them for food parcels and what appears to be fraud using their personal details.

The tactics used by those targeting pensioners appear to be well calculated and take advantage of the lack of protection mechanisms for the vulnerable by the Sassa system. These include lack of stringent verification processes for applications before deductions are authorised.

Despite regulations prescribing consent before deductions are permitted, these measures appear to be flouted willy-nilly, especially in the cases of those who have lodged complaints.

While there may be no evidence of collusion presented at this stage between Sassa employees and insurance companies involved, this does not absolve the agency of responsibility to investigate the allegations.

The government cannot simply wash its hands off while alleged scammers are taking advantage of its weak systems to target the vulnerable. The enablers of this corruption are those with intimate knowledge of the internal systems and their weaknesses. Social grants are an important poverty-reduction intervention by the government to reach those in the margins of society.

Sassa, therefore, must tighten its controls and verification processes to ensure all risks are eliminated before authorising deductions by insurance companies.

It is possible that many beneficiaries may have suffered losses from the unscrupulous insurers because of lack of knowledge and information.

A responsive government would therefore prioritise civic education to ensure no beneficiaries are shortchanged of state monies meant to meet their basic needs.