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The Portfolio Committee on Social Development wants the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to respond to claims in a news report by GroundUp on 14 October 2024 on alleged weaknesses in the social grant payment system and potential fraud in the application process for the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant.
 
Today, the committee dispatched a letter to the Minister of Social Development, Ms Sisisi Tolashe, requesting SASSA to attend a committee meeting scheduled for 23 October 2024 to receive a presentation from Mr Joel Cedras and Mr Veer Gosai, University of Stellenbosch students, on their findings on SASSA’s social grant payment system. SASSA is expected to respond to the findings made by the two students and defend the system's robustness to the committee's satisfaction.
 
Due to the serious nature of the issues raised in the news article, the committee invited its authors to present their findings. This aligns with the committee's mandate of overseeing SASSA's work. Furthermore, the committee has requested the presentation of Mr Cedras and Mr Gosai to outline the legal frameworks and methods they used to access the SASSA grant payment system.
 
The committee meeting will be held on 23 October 2024 at 09:30. The meeting will be in Room M46 in the Marks Building at Parliament.

Issued by the Parliamentary communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, Bridget Masango