The Department of Social Development (DSD) faced scrutiny during a recent briefing by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) before the Portfolio Committee. The audit's outcome uncovered several challenges within the department including challenges related to the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant and irregular expenditure.
Grants distributed by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) support millions of financially vulnerable South Africans. Permanent grants distributed by the agency include the Older Persons pension grant, Disability grant, War Veterans grant, Care Dependency grant, Foster Child grant, Child Support grant, Child Support grant Top-Up and Grant-in-aid.
Today, Sassa distributes more than 18.39 million grants to eligible beneficiaries living in South Africa. While this is significant, the audit outcomes revealed that the DSD fell short of its target of 19.4 million by the end of the 2023-24 financial year.
The audit revealed that the DSD is struggling with underspending, particularly on the SRD grant.
The SRD grant is the only government relief provided to unemployed people in South Africa. With millions of unemployed people living in the country, millions of rands were budgeted by the government to support the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
However, fewer people are applying for and receiving SRD grant payments. This was attributed to the introduction a lower income threshold and the requirement for bank verification of applicants' income.
In terms of the SRD grant, income refers to the money an applicant has in their bank account. The current income threshold for the grant is R624 and if an applicant has more than that in their account their application will be rejected.
Irregular Expenditure
Irregular expenditure, mainly at Sassa, has also raised concerns with the auditor general. Amounts including R281 million and R12 million, remain unresolved.
A significant portion of this expenditure was not dealt with, including two large cases involving R281 million and R12 million.
The department missed key targets, such as the timely adjudication of appeals and implementing a substance use disorder policy. People submit grant appeals when they believe Sassa was incorrect to reject their applications for government relief.
Other key targets, such as the timely adjudication of appeals and the implementation of a substance use disorder policy, were also not achieved.
