For 14 months a stranger in Mamelodi, northeast of Pretoria, had been using Sipho Mayos ID number and name to collect his old-age grant of R2,400 while the rightful beneficiary drowned in poverty.
Mayo from Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, first found out about the fraudulent withdrawals in June last year when he went to apply for his old-age grant at the local SA Social Security Agency Sassa offices, and was told a person 100km away in Mamelodi had been claiming his money for six months.
While his application was rejected, Sassa did not take any immediate action, and the Mamelodi man kept getting the grant for the next nine months, collecting just over R33,000.
