‘I don’t know what else to do. I am still trying but it still says the camera is not allowed. I am busy with it every day but it always says ‘camera not allowed’, now it has been two months without any payment.”
These were the words of a recipient of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. The recipient, who did not want to be named, is one of numerous recipients who have complained that they can’t access their grant because of a new identity verification process introduced by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) to fight fraud.
Elizabeth Raiters, deputy chairperson of #PayTheGrants, said they were not against the introduction of identification verification as they were aware there was a significant prevalence of fraud when it came to SRD grants and that they were one of the organisations that alerted Sassa to this.
“The only problem with this is how Sassa went about it. Sassa did not actually notify any beneficiaries that were either flagged for fraud or that their identity might have been used [for] fraud against them. So instead, Sassa just blocked these beneficiaries’ accounts,” she said.
“Now the problem is that every month you have a group of beneficiaries, and they will be approved, and then just before pay date, they will get an identification verification message.”
This has occurred in June and July.
Raiters said the biometric identity verification was introduced in March for the referred cases of potential fraud. Many beneficiaries received notifications from Sassa that they had been placed on referred status and needed to complete a biometric identity verification to get their grant.
Read more: Social grant recipients left in limbo as fraud management system proves fraught with danger
Beneficiaries who were referred needed to provide a high-quality photograph of themselves – via a multi-step online process – which can be matched to a photograph held in government databases by facial recognition software.
“We managed to at least get the referred cases solved because then we requested the link and the status of referred was lifted. But then in June, just before the pay date for the beneficiaries who were already approved, we saw the high volume of beneficiaries that were blocked,” she said.
Due to this, scores of these beneficiaries did not receive their grants for June. Sassa gave no notice and no prior explanation for this new practice of biometric identification, said General Alfred Moyo from #PayTheGrants.
“The process is very expensive to do so. It requires one to have a smartphone, to have data, it must be a smartphone which has a high-quality camera that can take a photo that can be verified with this biometric verification system,” said Moyo.
Numerous beneficiaries with a pay date went to retailers to withdraw their money but were turned away and told to get a link to verify themselves.
“I think it is irrational to expect people who cannot afford food to have a smartphone and internet access. So that’s a tricky challenge that has been faced by many beneficiaries around June, even this month with many still struggling to access their payments,” he said.
Digital divide concerns
Numerous beneficiaries have not migrated to a smart ID, which is necessary for the verification process.
“Many beneficiaries are poor, they cannot afford food, let alone having a smartphone with a high-quality camera and having data. There are those that are still not yet migrated to the smart IDs and were not assisted by that verification link, so there’s a digital divide that Sassa is propagating,” said Moyo.
“Many have applied or registered for this grant through the assistance of other people who have access to data and who have smartphones. So now it’s chopping many millions who don’t have smartphones, who don’t have access to data, and who don’t have digital literacy or understanding of those step-by-step verification processes.”
Raiters also voiced concerns about a smart ID being necessary to complete the verification.
“If you don’t have a smart card ID, you cannot receive the link, because when I request links for beneficiaries who don’t have a smart ID, I will be informed by Sassa that there is no face to compare with. You must pay R140 for your smart card ID.
“Some beneficiaries are living far from Home Affairs; some cannot even access Home Affairs like in Gauteng where I just had two beneficiaries turned away because they were told to make an appointment first and when I tried, the next available appointment was in September.”
Raiters claimed Sassa did not seem to have contingency plans for this and were all for biometric verification regardless of concerns voiced.
Sassa’s spokesperson did not respond to Daily Maverick’s questions on Wednesday.
“When I spoke to them about it, they said I shouldn’t concentrate so much on the biometric verification and I should concentrate more on Home Affairs issuing IDs,” she said.
Sassa has launched a pilot scheme in Nelson Mandela Bay, in which beneficiaries can go to Sassa offices to access WiFi or laptops with webcams, to complete biometric verification. While Moyo welcomed this scheme, he also voiced concerns.
“We don’t think it is something the country can rely on. First, we know that it is costly to travel to those nearest Sassa branches for those who are in far rural areas, and the Sassa branches cannot accommodate all the beneficiaries that might be coming. It is a pilot project that we don’t think can be rolled out to other provinces,” he said.
Beneficiaries bear the brunt
Raiters said it was not possible for those who received a message about the biometric verification just days before the pay date, to complete it and still receive their grants.
“When you receive the message, there is an option to request the link. But unfortunately, some of the beneficiaries have been waiting over two, three months, and they haven’t received the link,” she said.
Raiters said Sassa was working with #PayTheGrants daily, supplying Sassa with identity numbers and cellphone numbers, and Sassa immediately sending the biometric link for the beneficiaries.
“It’s actually not a simple process. I had some beneficiaries that I had to request the link for them, and some have failed the verification process over 25 times. You need to have a good-quality camera. You have to be technologically savvy because there are lots of instructions like, smile, smile with open mouth, lift your head more to the back, face not relaxed. It gives you a whole lot of things to do.
“I’ve been assisting some beneficiaries in actually verifying themselves because they’ve been struggling to verify themselves. Some beneficiaries can’t even read the instructions because the messages come up so fast,” she said.
Raiters said the process was compounding issues for already vulnerable groups of people.
“I also have beneficiaries that I have assisted and they passed the verification but their account is still blocked. They have even received new links, and they’ve done it again, and they passed again, and the account is still blocked, so they still don’t have access to their grant, which is actually very concerning,” she said.
When Raiters asked Sassa about this, she was notified that there were two different links that one could receive. The first was for referred cases that were flagged for potential fraud, and the second was for an update of contact details.
“Apparently these beneficiaries were flagged for fraud, but they received the biometric link for change of contact details. But I cannot understand that, because I work daily with beneficiaries including those with referred statuses. When I requested links for them, they also updated their contact details, and they received one link. So when I heard about two different links, I was confused myself,” she said.
GroundUp reported that Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi acknowledged the issues and said that 100,583 beneficiaries had successfully completed the facial biometric process.
Continuation of problems
Moyo said SRD beneficiaries had experienced numerous challenges, including errors, technical glitches and now man-made exclusionary measures.
In August 2023, the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) and #PayTheGrants, through their lawyers at the Socio-Economic Rights Institute, launched a court case aimed at addressing the unfair exclusion of millions of people living in poverty from receiving the SRD grant.
The court papers outline various reasons why eligible people were excluded from receiving the SRD grant, including:
- the over-broad definition of income used to measure whether an applicant falls below the means-test threshold;
- unlawful questions in the online application form;
- the exclusionary online-only application process;
- flawed bank and database verification processes;
- a narrow appeals process that excludes relevant new evidence;
- an arbitrary exclusion of qualifying applicants when funds are depleted;
- a reduction in the grant’s value over time;
- an irrational and retrogressive income threshold; and
- widespread and systemic non-payment of approved beneficiaries.
In April 2024, the IEJ filed its responding papers in the case. It is waiting for a hearing date.
Cancelling ‘untraceable’ recipients
In February 2024, the government amended the SRD regulations to grant itself the authority to cancel grants for beneficiaries classified as “untraceable”. Many have labelled this as unjust, as the untraceability issue stems directly from the government’s own choice to make the system dependent on smartphones and internet access.
The regulations also give the government the power to recover monies from beneficiaries if they are seen to have benefited “irregularly” or were not entitled to benefit.
“Given the already high rate of unfair exclusion from the grant, it is imperative that this clause does not provide further avenues to exclude people in need. In addition, the recovery of monies already paid could result in significant financial hardship, debt and hunger,” said the Universal Basic Income Coalition in a statement at the time.
Raiters expressed concern that the individuals affected by these changes are the most vulnerable within an already highly vulnerable group, or those least equipped to manage the biometric verification system.
“Where are the beneficiaries going to get money? That is the whole issue, they do not have money. Their accounts will stay blocked which means they will not have access to the SRD grant which is only R370 and so little to survive on,” she said. DM