Fake Sassa grants ‘news' is exploding online. Here's how to spot the lies
YouTube channels and fake news websites are pumping out dozens of false stories about Sassa grants and jobs every month. These hoaxes prey on vulnerable recipients, spreading confusion, false hope or panic. Many are clearly fake, Andrew Thompson writes, but they have still managed to infiltrate public discourse and be widely shared.
South Africa's social grant system is under digital siege. A flood of fake news targeting the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has spread across Facebook, YouTube and a network of low-quality, foreign-run websites. These stories are designed to mislead, confuse or panic grant recipients, often with the aim of generating clicks and ad revenue by preying on vulnerable beneficiaries.
YouTube channels with tens of thousands of subscribers and some videos with hundreds of thousands of views have together uploaded hundreds of fake videos this year alone. They claim imminent changes to payouts, onerous new rules, or exciting bonuses. Dozens of websites posing as job boards or news sites have also published false notices about new jobs, grant amounts, pension cuts, and backlogged payments.
Screengrab
None of these channels have any connection to South African state institutions, yet they continue to reach large audiences and prompt real-world concern, forcing Sassa to issue repeated denials.
In May, Sassa issued a media statement highlighting the extent of the problem and warning that it is 'concerned about the mushrooming and the rapid spread of fake news and disinformation targeting the Agency and its services almost daily'.
It stressed that it has made no announcements about 'double grants', changes to pension rules, or automatic top-ups, which are among the most popular fake news stories that tend to gain traction.
'Furthermore, reports have been spreading like wildfire that Sassa has announced 'New Rules Could Affect Your Pension' from 10 June. The report has even gone further and announced various dates for different provinces. This is not an official announcement from Sassa,' the cautionary statement reads.
How fake Sassa grant news spreads: volume, panic, and false hope
The wave of Sassa disinformation in 2025 has followed two broad patterns, regardless of the medium or the outlet disseminating it, and the content is broadly split into two themes: fake job adverts and fake grant updates.
The job advertisements regularly go viral. They claim that well-paid government positions requiring no experience are available and often direct users to deceptive forms or clickbait sites that mine data. These regularly appear as images on fake government letterheads that circulate widely on platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and X.
SASSA
The fake grant updates employ a more familiar disinformation approach with a different motive. These mostly AI-generated false news articles report on increased or double payments, pension rule changes, or Sassa 'deadlines' that risk non-payment of grants. All are presented without basis, and often spill over from clearly fake websites into public discourse.
Fake news websites and YouTube accounts repeatedly publish variations of similar videos and articles, many of which use text-to-speech tools and AI-generated thumbnails to appear convincing. The tone ranges from panic ('rules changing next week!') to false reassurance ('you can still claim your R7 000 today').
Most rely on sheer volume, hoping that one story or job advert will catch on and spread - as many already have. News24's Disinformation Desk has counted hundreds of fake news articles about Sassa currently online, and although many fade into obscurity, an increasing number are breaking through requiring official responses.
Screengrab
For now, the motive of these platforms appears to be financial gain. Most of the videos are hosted on monetised channels, and the websites link to Google Adwords accounts. If these get enough traction from panicked recipients, they will generate some revenue for the owners. Yet ironically, much of the vitality of this material reveals itself on platforms like WhatsApp without direct links to the source, which do not generate the website owners income but have the same impact on grant recipients.
The majority of the Sassa disinformation that gains mainstream traction appears not to have an overt political motive or agenda, yet. Instead, it is riding on the wave of attention afforded by this vulnerable target market, many of whom are understandably deceived by the deluge.
Rapid-fire Sassa debunks from the last few months alone
News24's Disinformation Desk has identified hundreds of fake news stories and videos targeting Sassa recipients published in the last few months alone.
Here are the most prominent examples, with their themes often emulated across other fake news sites:
A viral post linking to a website called All Provinces Jobs claimed that 'South African government jobs 2025' were open for applications. The link leads to a fraudulent website not affiliated with any government department.
Similar posts appeared on Facebook pages falsely advertising hiring opportunities through Sassa, often featuring job titles and closing dates to lend false credibility and create a sense of urgency.
YouTube channels 'SASSA Benefits Updates' and 'Stimulus Sam' have released several dozen videos each about grant payments in South Africa, including that increased Sassa payments would be made in June 2025. The videos utilise text-to-speech narration featuring a vaguely South African accent and footage that is clearly created with generative AI. Both channels are entirely fake.
A report hosted on the fake news website Debtcol Council claimed that 'new rules could affect your pension' from 10 June. Sassa has confirmed that this is also false.
Another story on that website claimed application backlogs had been cleared, while yet another suggested a new top-up payment was in progress. All are fabricated.
A website called Prabh Honda published a story about Sassa grant suspensions, which is entirely baseless and without truth.
A piece on Rise Up WV, a website responsible for several prominent fake news items, stated that grant beneficiaries needed to reapply for doubled payments due to 'SASSA system updates'. There is no basis for this in any of Sassa's official communications.
Why it matters - and how to protect yourself or family members
Many of the intended recipients of these grants are older, economically vulnerable, and may not be experienced with digital literacy or fact-checking online. The combination of desperation and trust in anything that looks official makes this a fertile ground for exploitation via disinformation.
These false reports don't just casually mislead - comments beneath even palpably false news items and videos indicate the confusion and desperation many experience about this topic.
This fake news also distracts Sassa, which is already stretched in the payment grants, by forcing them to correct disinformation.
To stay safe, advise family members of the following:
Check only official Sassa channels: Information is reliably published on sassa.gov.za and Sassa's verified X and Facebook pages.
Do not trust any information sent via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Sassa does not communicate important information via forwarded messages.
Never enter personal information into a form on a website claiming to offer Sassa job opportunities.
Ignore YouTube channels with videos claiming to be the Department of Social Development or Sassa. Sassa's official YouTube page is not used to share news about grants.
When in doubt, don't share: spreading false information, even with good intentions, can cause unnecessary panic.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Antarctica ‘too wild for humans to rule', says Shackleton medal winner
Cormac Cullinan has a dream. A dream, he says, that will 'change how humanity sees, understands and relates to Antarctica'. The vast frozen continent – home to emperor and Adélie penguins, leopard and Ross seals, and feeding grounds for orcas, beaked whales and albatrosses – should be recognised as an autonomous legal entity 'at least equivalent to a country', says the environmental lawyer. And this week that dream became one step closer to reality as judges awarded Cullinan the Shackleton medal for the protection of the polar regions. The prestigious prize, worth £10,000, shines a light on people who have shown 'courage, determination, ingenuity and leadership' in their work to protect the polar regions, indicating Cullinan's radical plan to adopt and implement an Antarctica Declaration is gaining momentum. Cullinan, who is based in South Africa and was once an anti-apartheid activist, achieved recognition for his work fighting, often successfully, for legal systems to recognise the rights of rivers, forests and things 'other than human beings' so they could be defended in court cases. The idea of giving species and places legal 'personhood', outlined in his 2002 book, Wild Law: A Manifesto for Earth Justice, became part of a wider global movement recognising rights of nature and animals. Cullinan is now arguing that Antarctica as a whole should have this legal personhood, preferably at state level. 'We have to shift how people relate to Antarctica,' he says. 'It's absolutely essential to protect it, not just for itself, which is obviously valid, but also for humanity.' Instead of being treated by the international community and law courts as a 'territory claimed by a number of countries that stuck flags in the ice a while ago … at best, a laboratory and at worst, a potential source of oil, gas, minerals and krill', he wants Antarctica to be legally protected as 'an astounding living community' and 'a being in its own right'. 'It should be obvious that Antarctica is far too wild and fierce for humans to rule,' he says. 'It should be seen as what it is: sovereign unto itself.' Antarctica is governed by the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), a framework created in 1959 and signed by 58 countries. This guarantees that the continent is used exclusively for peaceful purposes, such as science and conservation. It was a great achievement at the time, Cullinan says, when there were proposals to mine Antarctica and countries in conflict over their competing claims. It could have a seat at the table, it could initiate lawsuits or join lawsuits to prevent further greenhouse emissions Cormac Cullinan Now the key challenges Antarctica faces arise from the climate crisis, something caused by activities far outside its geographical boundaries. At the same time, countries such as China and Russia have consistently blocked conservation measures such as the creation of new marine protected areas. 'There's impasse within the system, Cullinan says, while from an ecological perspective, the situation is deteriorating very fast and scientists are saying we have to take urgent, decisive action.' The purpose of declaring Antarctica a legal entity and setting out its rights is to create corresponding obligations for other countries – and international organisations such as the UN – to respect those rights. 'An iceberg doesn't really care whether you think it has rights or not. The issue is: are there human duties to respect the integrity of the ice-sheet fields?' If the Antarctic ice sheet melted entirely, it would raise global sea levels by about 58 metres. In 2020, an article in the journal Nature estimated that even a 1-metre rise would put '48% of the world's land area, 52% of the global population and 46% of global assets' at risk of flooding. 'It can't be left to a small group of countries to make decisions about Antarctica,' says Cullinan, who helped to draft the 2010 Universal Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth and co-founded the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature. 'If human beings lived there, who were indigenous to Antarctica, they would have a government who could represent them in climate change negotiations or biodiversity conventions. And that government would be a powerful voice, because Antarctica and the Southern Ocean covers a 10th of the surface of the planet.' But Antarctica has no voice, he says. 'It's not represented in these decision-making bodies – and the countries that govern it under the ATS still argue from a national perspective, and take decision-making positions for their own national interests, while scientists and other people who really love Antarctica and are deeply committed to protecting it get blocked.' Related: 'He took five bullets and returned to work on plankton': the double lives of Ukraine's Antarctic scientists The Antarctica Declaration would, by contrast, recognise that all Antarctic beings have rights that humanity must respect and protect. People around the world are being invited to support it and declare a new legal status of 'personhood' for Antarctica. 'It could then be represented,' says Cullinan. 'It could have a seat at the table, it could initiate lawsuits or join lawsuits around the world to prevent further greenhouse emissions.' The award will help raise much-needed awareness about the Antarctica Declaration, he adds. 'It will bring this initiative to the attention of people in a way that would have otherwise taken us years to achieve, and connect us to a network of polar explorers and Antarctic experts we can perhaps persuade to join us. 'We've got a very strong core group, but we need to build a global movement around this – we need to show that Antarctica is everybody's concern.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Philadelphia woman's life turned upside down after Social Security deems her dead — and she's not the only one
Renee Williams was very much alive and living in West Philadelphia when she discovered a serious problem. Her bank accounts, health insurance and retirement benefits had all been cut off. The reason? She'd been placed in the "Death Master File" maintained by the Social Security Administration. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) Williams has spent more than six months trying to ensure everything is restored and lives in fear she'll lose it all again due to a clerical error. "I go to sleep at night and think about if they're going to cut me off again, not knowing day-to-day what's going to happen to my benefits," Williams told CBS News Philadelphia. It's a reasonable concern. Her benefit payments are still inconsistent, credit and banking issues remain and the whole experience has been 'a pain in the behind.' Worse still, she's not the only American in this situation. Sadly, such problems may only get worse as the Trump administration culls government jobs and overhauls agencies — with the Social Security Administration (SSA) a top target. In April, an estimated 2,500 SSA workers accepted buyouts as part of the government's efforts to eliminate 7,000 jobs in the agency, AARP reports. According to the Social Security Administration, less than 1% of the three million deaths the SSA records annually are incorrect. That works out to about 10,000 people a year whom the SSA deems dead, but who are actually alive. That's not good. But Elon Musk has inadvertently made the problem worse. Ironically, that's because he's more concerned about benefits going out to people who are dead, claiming rampant fraud. Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says — and that 'anyone' can do it That's one reason he overhauled the Social Security Administration database as part of the Department of Government Efficiency DOGE — to eliminate such errors. Unfortunately, as the Daily Beast reports, that overhaul is now cutting off benefits to a growing number of people who, like Williams, are alive and well but who are declared dead. According to ABC News, experts believe Musk may have misread the records by reading the wrong databases. Rennie Glasgow, a Social Security claims technical analyst who has worked in the Social Security Administration's Schenectady field office for 15 years, told the Daily Beast that 4 million people have been marked dead on the database as a result of the DOGE overhaul — even though many are alive. 'We have people who did not receive benefits come in every day with their ID and say, 'I'm not dead, I'm alive!'' he said, noting it can take three to four days to 'resurrect' them. "When they mark someone dead on the Social Security record, it stops their life,' Glasgow said. 'It stops their car payments, it stops their credit, it stops their ability to do anything. One Philadelphia consumer protection attorney, Jim Francis, is helping these victims fight back. "These are all people who are going about their normal lives, and all of the sudden, they lose access to all of their benefits, their pension, their medical insurance and they become financially paralyzed," Jim Francis told CBS News. Francis is representing a Baltimore family in Baltimore that is trying to initiate a class action against Social Security after their relative, Joyce Evans, was improperly reported dead in 2023. The family claims the mistake caused financial and health problems, leading Joyce Evans to actually die months after the error occurred. "It's a really serious problem and in the world of data being misreported, this is almost as bad as it gets, if not the worst,' Francis said. If you have been improperly marked as being deceased, make an appointment with your local Social Security Administration field office as soon as possible. You'll need to bring valid ID with you, which can include one of the following documents: Passport Driver's license Employee ID Military record School ID Marriage, divorce or adoption record Health insurance card or medical record Life insurance policy Court order for name change Church membership The original documents, or copies certified by the issuing agency, must be presented to the Social Security Administration. No photocopies are accepted. Once Social Security corrects your record, they will provide an 'Erroneous Death Case - Third Party Contact" Notice that you can show to banks, doctors and others to get your accounts back and your life restored. Hopefully, field offices will be responsive in preparing this document, despite staff shortages and a growing number of the 'undead' fighting to restore their lives. Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you'll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Like what you read? Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise straight to your inbox every week. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
China's Quiet Win: Outmaneuvering U.S. for Africa's Future Leaders
When students in Africa pine for an education overseas, the United States is often not top of mind. For many, it is China. The Trump administration's recent tightening of visas for international students has raised fears that the United States could lose its status as a top destination for higher education. But for tens of thousands of students in Africa, that shift was already happening. Over the past decade, applicants across the continent have traded prestigious academic institutions in countries like Britain and the United States for Chinese alternatives, attracted by government scholarships, affordable tuition, lower living costs and easier access to visas. Africa is home to the world's youngest and fastest-growing population at a time when many of the world's wealthier regions — particularly in the West and Asia — are aging rapidly, making it difficult to find enough workers to keep their economies growing. Africa lacks enough universities to educate its own students, but China has mounted an effort to recruit them as the United States reduces its diplomatic, military and humanitarian engagement on the continent. The Chinese Communist Party sees educating the next generation of African leaders as part of a broader plan to boost China's soft power and promote its economic and political model in the developing world. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
