SASSA report on the R267 billion social grant distribution that reached 19.2 million beneficiaries in the 2024/2025 financial year.
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) spent a total of R267 billion on social grants in the 2024/2025 financial year, marking a significant effort by government to support millions of vulnerable citizens across the country.
Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashepraised the performance of SASSA and its sister entity, the National Development Agency (NDA), for "turning the tide and improving the performance of the sector" during a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Social Development in Parliament on Wednesday.
Minister Tolashe said the department and its entities had worked very hard to facilitate and enhance services to the needy and put food on the tables of many vulnerable households, whilst protecting the dignity of children and the elderly.
According to Tolashe, the R267 billion in spending includes the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, which alone benefitted more than 9 million South Africans. Normal social grants also grew modestly by 0.6% from 19.1 million beneficiaries in March 2024 to 19.2 million in March 2025.
The Minister attributed these milestones to the department's focus on stabilising leadership and filling critical vacancies, ensuring the core mandate of providing social protection was delivered effectively.
"Other highlights for the year under review include the social assistance programme, which witnessed its largest expansion yet, reaching over 28 million eligible individuals," Tolashe said.
"Of this number, more than 13.1 million are children who benefited from the Child Support Grant, while about 4.1 million older persons were recipients of the Old Age Grant."
Despite the progress, Tolashe acknowledged that challenges remained, particularly in improving customer experience and combating fraud.
"I have travelled across the country and listened to customers and SASSA frontline employees who understand the operational changes they need to improve customer experience," she said.
"Through the Integrated Community Outreach Programme, we are intensifying our reach to communities across the country."
SASSA Acting CEO Brenton Van Vrede highlighted strides made in tackling corruption and improving operational efficiency. He said the agency acted on 483 reported fraud and corruption cases, finalising 478.
Some of the cases included the arrest of eight officials in Gauteng for fraud-related charges, the detection of money lenders in possession of SASSA cards, and the exposure of officials colluding to generate fraudulent grants in Mpumalanga.
Van Vrede said the agency also processed 1.8 million grant applications, surpassing its target of 1.6 million, and achieved 98% efficiency in processing Covid-19 SRD applications.
"We remain committed to ensuring that no one is left behind and to tackling child and adult poverty now and in the future," Minister Tolashe reaffirmed.
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