The South African Social Security Agency SASSA has warned that payments to around 184 000 social grant beneficiaries in KwaZulu-Natal may be delayed next month.
This follows the discovery that many failed to disclose additional sources of income during their initial applications.
Nationally, SASSA has identified 210 000 individuals potentially in breach of the Social Assistance Act, which requires applicants to fully disclose all sources of income. The irregularities were detected through collaboration with registered credit bureaus.
SASSAs KwaZulu-Natal provincial head, Thamo Mzobe, says the highest number of suspected cases have been found in Chatsworth, Phoenix, and eThekwini Central.
Mzobe says, "Its important that time and again we sample the people if indeed theyre compliant with all the legislation for them to get grants and this grant is meant for poor people, this grant is meant for people who dont have income. So once we discover that there is an irregularity that has happened for me to get this grant, we do justice by asking you to come to us and conduct a review with you to ascertain indeed that you are a person that is eligible for this money."