Biometric crackdown on grants to save R3bn as fraud cases axed

Stricter verification by Sassa has already led to tens of thousands of grants being cancelled or adjusted, while the social relief of distress (SRD) grant has been extended to 2027, pending decisions on a permanent income support plan.

Improved verification of social grant recipients is expected to yield R3 billion in cost savings over the next two fiscal years.

Read: Basic income grant policy will take another year at least

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced in his 2026 Budget Speech that the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has upgraded its biometric and income verification processes, resulting in nearly 35 000 grants being identified as incorrect or fraudulent and subsequently terminated.

“We are committed to improving access for the many South Africans deserving and eligible for social support. Abuse of the system will not be tolerated,” he said.

Meanwhile, National Treasury notes in its 2026 Budget Review that social grants have been adjusted downward – partly in line with lower inflation, but also due to more rigorous vetting processes at Sassa.

Funding allocated to Sassa in the previous financial year was conditional on improvements to biometric and income verification systems.

By December 2025, Sassa’s verification processes had flagged 291 581 grant beneficiaries for review.

“As a result of the review process and strict implementation of the sliding scale, which bases grant values on recipients’ incomes, grant amounts were adjusted for 8 599 disability and old-age grant recipients in accordance with the eligibility criteria,” Treasury notes.

Read: Sassa suspends 70 000 grant payments in crackdown

This produced projected savings of R36.4 million in 2025/26. A further 34 661 grants were cancelled, generating expected savings of R170.7 million by the end of the same financial year.

Sassa has now rolled out biometric verification for all new grant applications to combat fraud and corruption.

Social Relief of Distress grant

The SRD grant has been allocated an additional R36.4 billion to extend payments until 31 March 2027, maintaining the current amount of R370 per month per beneficiary.

Read: How the social grant system has changed since 1994

National Treasury notes that the 2027 timeline is intended to give government sufficient time to complete policy work on the viability of a more permanent income support grant.

“As a result, a paper is not yet ready for tabling ahead of the 2026 Budget. While no fixed timelines have been agreed on, the intention is to complete the policy refinement before the 2026 MTBPS to ensure alignment with fiscal planning and implementation of priorities,” the Budget Review states.

Read our compressive Budget 2026 coverage here.

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