DA welcomes regulations to prevent illegal social grant deductions

6 May 2016

The DA welcomes the publication of the revised Regulations to the Social Assistance Act announced by Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini today.

The revisions seek to address the problem of illegal deductions to social grants that the DA has fought on an ongoing basis. This is a victory for the most vulnerable in our society who have suffered from this scourge for too long.

The unlawful deductions from thousands upon thousands of vulnerable South African social grant recipients have been going on since 2010. Social grant recipients, some of whom are sole providers in their families, have been victims of these for about six years.

Comments by the minister that her department is being overwhelmed by queries from people suffering from illegal deductions – with 40 000 queries received by SASSA in February alone – are alarming, and support the evidence gathered by the DA.

These revised regulations come not a moment too soon.

It is to be welcomed that the regulations will clarify the existing regulations which the financial services industry has – diabolically – found ways to bypass. These include:

- The stipulation that beneficiaries must, in person, provide written permission to SASSA for all deductions;

- that only insurers registered under the Long-term Insurance Act of 1998 may offer funeral policies; and

- that payments for funeral policy premiums will now only be made directly to the insurer responsible for providing benefits under the policy, with no payments to brokers being allowed.

We welcome the announcement that a SASSA run recourse system, to address problems dating back to 2012, has been put in place and that a 24-hour toll free number will be established to take queries.

The DA will be closely monitoring the implementation of the regulations and the efficient running of the query line to ensure that they do not amount to another empty promise.

No vulnerable South African receiving a social grant should have to suffer these unlawful and immoral deductions from their already meagre grants.

Issued by Bridget Masango, DA Shadow Minister of Social Development, 6 May 2016