Parly committee hopes a broader probe into social grant system will reveal extent of fraud

CAPE TOWN - Parliament's social development committee says it hopes a broader investigation into the social grants system will reveal how widespread the fraud is. 

The department has already initiated an investigation into the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant after two Stellenbosch students blew the lid last year on how easily the system is being defrauded. 

Chairperson of Parliament's portfolio committee, Bridget Masango, said she was eagerly awaiting the complete set of findings.

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Last year, preliminary findings identified a medium-level threat to the Social Relief of Distress grant system, including weak authentication, and a lack of encryption. 

Masango said she suspected this kind of fraud was also prevalent across other categories of grants paid by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA). 

"There needs to be a close working relationship as well with other sister departments that help in putting together these applications, one of which is the Department of Home Affairs for example, because ID numbers are used for the applications."

Minister Sisisi Tolashe has already agreed to widen the probe. 

Masango said the committee was not setting her a deadline to produce the findings to ensure the probe was thorough.