Minister Lindiwe Zulu says over half a billion looted from SASSA in the past decade

National News/ 17 October 2022, 15:34pm/ Staff Writer

Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu: image supplied

By Staff Writer: The Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu says over half a billion, has been looted from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) over the past decade.

Zulu stated this in response to a question posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament Bridget Masango.

Zulu revealed that in the past 10 years, over R536 million was stolen by SASSA officials and even doctors.

In a statement released on the DA’s website, Masango says a total of 1 174 individuals illegally benefited from SASSA; 761 were SASSA officials, including five doctors.

Masango added that 50 SASSA officials looted R23 million in funds meant for poorer citizens; however, only 37 cases have been reported to law enforcement agencies for further investigation.

The DA vowed to continue exposing SASSA’s corruption and report it to relevant government agencies. Earlier this year, it was reported that SASSA is at the top of corruption complaints in government organisations.

Many South Africans have shared their thoughts on the looting taking place at SASSA. Some believes that the figures are grossly underrepresented and that more money was actually stolen.

Here are some comments from twitter:

@Caro1Graham said: “How do they know? How can they tell how much it is? Are they counting as it is stolen? Do they estimate it as a %age? Liars and thieves. What a dire situation we are in.”

@SebinTdr said: “All government departments bleed Rbillions every year, and they get increased budget without call for accountability and increase in financial controls.”

@Owen_Zuma said: “I don’t think so, so little it should be more than this figure.”