Bank surveillance and poverty risk: UBIC warns of devastating impact on Sassa beneficiaries

The Citizen

10-06-2025

Since 2022, UBIC reports that 90% of SRD grant exclusions have been erroneous.
The Universal Basic Income Coalition (UBIC) has issued an urgent warning to parliament that new National Treasury budget conditions for the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) could 'plunge millions of South Africa's most vulnerable into deeper poverty and exclusion'.
In a letter to parliament's portfolio committee on social development dated 9 June 2025, UBIC outlined how Treasury's requirements would subject beneficiaries of major social grants to intrusive verification systems that threaten constitutional rights and essential social protections.
The coalition warns that the measures could affect up to 6 million children and 3.5 million caregivers, along with potentially millions of seniors and persons with disabilities, through systems that have already proven fundamentally flawed in their application to other grants.
Mass surveillance and constitutional violations
According to the coalition, the new conditions, disclosed by Sassa and the Department of Social Development in a parliamentary presentation on 23 April 2025, would apply extensive verification systems across all major grants, including the Child Support Grant, Old Age Grant, Disability Grant and Care Dependency Grant.
UBIC warned in its letter to the committee that these measures 'will have devastating consequences for babies, children, caregivers (mostly women), older persons, and people with disabilities. They amount to a mass violation of constitutional rights and roll back access to essential social protections.'
As UBIC stated in its submission, 'many of these methods – first used to administer the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, have been found to be unconstitutional by the High Court and have already wrongly excluded millions from accessing their entitlements.'
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Flawed systems extended despite court findings
There are approximately 9.2 million Sassa SRD recipients.
Since 2022, UBIC reports that 90% of SRD grant exclusions have been erroneous, yet Treasury is now requiring Sassa to extend these same flawed systems to all major social grants.
The coalition points to this track record as evidence that the new measures will create widespread wrongful exclusions rather than genuine fraud prevention.
It says the verification systems include invasive monthly bank surveillance combined with undisclosed credit bureau data, cross-referencing with inaccurate government databases, including UIF and Nsfas, profiling beneficiaries for fraud risk, and mandatory biometric verification requirements.
Particularly concerning to UBIC is a proposed reduction in the Child Support Grant's means test threshold, which they argue is unconscionable given that 70% of South African children live in poverty.
Mass suspensions without due process
The coalition warns that the new system would enable mass suspension of beneficiaries without notice, placing the burden on individuals to disprove blanket allegations of fraud rather than requiring Sassa to prove wrongdoing before suspending benefits.
This approach represents a fundamental shift in due process that could leave vulnerable families without essential support while they navigate complex bureaucratic processes to restore their benefits.
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Transparency crisis and hidden data
UBIC also flagged a growing transparency crisis, noting that Sassa has ceased publishing SRD grant data despite the program being the third-largest item in the country's social assistance budget.
In a media statement dated 27 May 2025, Sassa revealed that 210,000 beneficiaries have been placed under review based on credit bureau data, with grants potentially recoverable as debt.
The coalition argues this lack of transparency makes it impossible for civil society and Parliament to properly oversee the administration of social grants and protect beneficiaries' rights.
Basic income support policy concerns
UBIC's submission comes as the Department of Social Development and Treasury prepare to finalise a long-awaited Basic Income Support policy.
The coalition believes this policy has undergone substantial revisions since the last public consultations in March 2023 and is calling for the draft to be made public for consultation before it reaches Cabinet.
The coalition emphasised that 'this is not just about numbers—it's about people's dignity, survival and constitutional rights.' They urged 'the Committee to act swiftly, hold National Treasury accountable, demand transparency and open the BIS policy to public scrutiny.'
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Parliamentary action demanded
UBIC has made specific demands to parliament's portfolio committee on social development, calling for immediate action to halt the implementation of Treasury's conditions and ensure proper democratic oversight of social grant reforms.
The coalition is requesting that parliament demand the public release of the Basic Income Support policy draft before Cabinet submission, ensure public consultation on all grant-related reforms, and require Sassa to provide full, disaggregated SRD grant data.
UBIC has also requested the opportunity to formally present to the committee on these urgent issues, emphasising the need for swift parliamentary intervention to protect vulnerable South Africans from further exclusion from social support systems.
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