The South African government has reported that 90 000 people confessed to welfare grant fraud under an amnesty offer that ended in March.
This figure emerges from a report delivered by Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang — who is chairperson of the social cluster of ministers — on the programme of action for 2005. She read the report in Pretoria on Thursday, and it was beamed to Cape Town.
Updating figures released in April by Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya, she said the improvement of the integrity of the social grants administration system continues to be ”a priority” in the programme of action — ensuring that the system does not exclude people who qualify but also ridding it of elements of fraud.
”In a recently completed verification process of all beneficiaries, government has made savings of close to R500-million by picking up a total of about 121 000 cases of temporary disability grants that had lapsed.”
Through the fraud hotline, more than 19 000 cases of potential fraud have been reported, and these have been investigated. In addition, the government has also established ”that over 41 000 public servants were in receipt of grants and these are now being investigated”. Skweyiya had earlier said that 37 000 public servants were being investigated.
The indemnity was offered in December by the Department of Social Development and provided ineligible beneficiaries an opportunity to apply for indemnity before the end of March.
”This campaign was a huge success during this period,” said Tshabalala-Msimang.
Skweyiya told the Sunday Times recently that welfare grants officially cost the government R1,5-billion a year, but he believes it is much higher.
He said he suspects that more than 20% of the 1,4-million disability grants, which together cost the government R12-billion a year, are fraudulently claimed. — I-Net Bridge