Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya will hold urgent talks with the chief executives of the big South African banks in a bid to end fraud in the distribution of social grants, his office said on Wednesday.
The meeting, which would also be attended by members of the Banking Council, would be held in Pretoria ”within the next few days”, the Minister’s office said in a statement.
”The Department of Social Development estimates that if agreements are reached with the banks and beneficiaries are migrated into the banking system, this could save the government more than R1-billion over the next four to five years,” it said.
In the past, Skweyiya had said government lost no less than R1,5-billion per annum due to fraud and corruption in social grants.
The newly-formed South African Social Security Agency would hopefully improve the way in which social grants were distributed, the minister said.
Currently, there are more than 10-million people receiving social grants nationally, and the number is expected to rise.
Skweyiya said: ”The banks have a critical role to play in the fight against fraud in social grants; in enhancing the improvement of service delivery for the poorest of the poor in general; as well as ensuring that social grant beneficiaries are paid in conditions of dignity and at reduced costs. We therefore think that as we intensify our overall efforts to eradicate fraud and corruption in social grants, we should work in close cooperation with the banks as this will further advance our goal of paying the beneficiaries efficiently as well as restoring their dignity”.
”The fact that the government had been losing no less than R1,5-billion per annum due to fraud and corruption is indicative of the serious inefficiencies that were associated with the current payment system which must be eliminated as a matter of urgency. Therefore, as an integral part of the establishment of the South African Social Security Agency over the next three years which is envisaged to improve the quality of service delivery in social grants, we are already exploring and negotiating the migration, where possible, of more beneficiaries to the post offices and the banks” added Skweyiya. – Sapa