Your grant, your fingerprint: Sassa turns to biometrics to stop fraudsters

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) announced it will introduce mandatory Beneficiary Biometric Enrolment in all its offices from September 1, 2025. 

The national spokesperson for Sassa, Paseka Letsatsi, said this new era is expected to revolutionise the administration of social grants, and the biometric enrolment is set to be the precursor to detect and nip in the bud any potentially fraudulent activities in the Sassa grant system. 

Letsatsi said this introduction comes after a marathon of engagements with organised labour on a myriad of issues, and these have since been successfully resolved, paving the way for a new age for Sassa in its resolve to administer a tight and credible grant system. 

Sassa CEO Themba Matlou said the implementation was supposed to take place earlier, but welcomed the progress made to ensure it is introduced in the new month. 

“Our plans were to commence with the biometric enrolment at the beginning of the 2025/2026 financial year; however, we hit a snag, but we have ironed out the issues that delayed our plans, and it is all systems go for the implementation,” he said. 

The Beneficiary Biometric Enrolment is said to be coming at an opportune time when Sassa is ramping up its efforts to improve its system, detect and effectively root out fraud. 

Letsatsi said this biometric enrolment is a strategic move to ensure every grant recipient is verifiably authentic and that Sassa’s systems are resilient against manipulation and error, especially in cases involving forged identity documents that frontline staff cannot reliably detect. 

In addition, the biometric enrolment will ensure: 

• Significant reduction in fraudulent applications and duplicate payments
• Reliable verification of beneficiary authenticity and proof of life 
• Reduction in inclusion errors
• Streamlined documentation processes
• Enhanced audit outcomes and stronger record integrity
• Improved public trust in Sassa

Sassa said this initiative will ensure the enhancement of risk controls, contributing to a more secure and accountable grants system, while ascertaining that social grant recipients are living individuals at the time of application. 

“Grant applications captured and approved from September 1, 2025, onwards will include biometric fingerprint enrolment or facial recognition through electronic Know Your Client (eKYC). Applications without biometric data will be immediately put into the review cycle, notifying the client of the need to capture biometrics as per the review processes,” Letsatsi said. 

Sassa said all the infrastructure and tools needed to implement this new initiative have been installed in all its offices across the country. Staff were trained throughout August to ensure readiness and efficient implementation of the biometric enrolment. 

robin.francke@iol.co.za

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