The Portfolio Committee on Social Development has expressed appreciation for the progress made by the KwaZulu-Natal KZN regional office of the South African Social Security Agency SASSA in modernising service delivery. This follows the successful implementation of the digital income verification process and the biometric registration of social grant beneficiaries. These efforts mark a significant step towards improving the integrity and efficiency of the country's social assistance framework.
During the committee's oversight visit to the province, members received a detailed briefing from SASSA officials at the Ilembe District Municipality offices. KZN Regional Manager, Ms Thamo Mzobe, confirmed that the Beneficiary Biometric Enrolment BBE system had been fully implemented on 1 September 2025. All 82 local offices across the province have been equipped for biometric enrolment, and 901 officials have been trained to operate the system. Of these, 748 have already been migrated to the BBE platform, with fingerprint scanners deployed to all offices to strengthen security and ensure more accurate verification of beneficiaries.
Ms Mzobe also provided an update on the region's income verification process, which involves checking beneficiary records for possible irregularities. She reported that 38 officials have been deployed to the Records Management Centre to manage the review of identified cases. Currently, 184,828 cases are under review, focusing on individuals flagged by credit bureaus for economic activity while receiving grants, and those with multiple bank accounts or duplicate identity document numbers. So far, 77,287 cases-representing 77 percent-have been completed, and the remaining 107,541 are expected to be finalised by the end of the financial year.
