Cape Town - Four SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) employees were arrested in Cape Town on Friday in connection welfare grant fraud, SABC news reported.
The four allegedly approved fraudulent disability grants without looking at any medical proof of disability.
They were caught during a nationwide verification process by the department of social development to track grant irregularities, according to the report.
“If they (the four) are convicted, we will... take their government pension to recover the money that has been stolen,” Sassa CEO Virginia Peterson told the SABC.
A countrywide campaign to re-register grant beneficiaries started in April. Since then 25 000 people registered to receive pension payouts have not collected them.
“We, as Sassa, with our own team, are starting to investigate the 25 000 cases to verify if any of those have trends that indicate fraud is possible.”
The department is reportedly owed R4 million by people who have received fraudulent grants. - Sapa