The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has cut irregular expenditure from R1.8 billion in 2018/19 to R1.1 million in 2024/2025. The significant reduction was attributed to improvements in its financial controls.
This was revealed last week when Sassa presented its 2023/2024 Audit Action Plan Progress Report to the Portfolio Committee on Social Development in Parliament.
Sassa implemented several measures to reduce irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditures. These measures include implementing comprehensive training and oversight measures, which included pre-audits and consequence management to ensure procurement regulations are followed.
These strategies were bolstered by strengthened regional oversight which helped prevent irregular contracts from being awarded and improved financial governance.
Through collective efforts and the will to turn the tide, Sassa has experienced a sizable decline in irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure.
In 2018/19, the agency recorded irregular expenditure of R1.8 billion.
This was resolved in the intervening years through donations by the National Treasury and implementing preventative strategies to avoid incurring further irregularities in the procurement of goods and services.
The interventions implemented to prevent fruitless and wasteful expenditure are notable, as there has been a decline from R134 184 in 2022/2023, to R53 001 in 2023/2024 to R22 216 in 2024/2025.
Acting Sassa CEO Themba Matlou says despite the progress made by the agency, more needs to be done to turn Sassa into a leading global social assistance entity.
We want to take the Sassa brand to greater heights, and the road towards that journey starts with how we manage our affairs and the public money we are entrusted with. We need to be prudent in our financial expenditure and we are steadily moving towards that.
The agency distributes social grants to millions of South Africans. The reduction in wasteful expenditure ensures Sassa's budget can be used to assist the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
Material Findings Against Sassa
Despite the reduction of irregular expenditure, the Auditor-General's recent review of the 2023/24 financial statements has revealed five significant material irregularities, raising serious concerns about financial management.
Among the findings is a R74-million payment made to Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) in 2018 for services that were never delivered. Further, a substantial overpayment of R316-million to CPS, which the High Court in Pretoria has mandated be repaid to Sassa, was also flagged.
The report also highlights the disbursement of R150-million in R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants to ineligible applicants. Finally, a questionable R7.8-million contract awarded to a company for photocopy machines in the Eastern Cape adds to the list of financial discrepancies.
