Lindiwe Zulu made the admission in response to a question posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament Bridget Masango. Zulu revealed that over the last decade, 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. Of those, 761 were SASSA officials, including five unnamed doctors.

Masango added that 50 SASSA officials looted R23 million in funds meant for poorer citizens. Tragically, 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. There have been ongoing concerns about corruption surrounding grants in South Africa, particularly amid calls for the R350 social distress relief (SRD) grant to be expanded or turned into a permanent basic income grant in the country.