PRETORIA, South Africa — Social Development Minister Dina Pule has vowed to end the long SASSA queues that have historically plagued grant recipients, announcing a comprehensive service delivery overhaul aimed at restoring dignity and efficiency to the country’s social support system.
During a media briefing in Pretoria, Minister Pule and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) detailed their strategic direction to strengthen frontline services. A central pillar of this initiative is the recruitment of approximately 1,000 contract workers across the country. The R40-million investment, funded by taxpayers, is designed to add critical capacity to understaffed SASSA offices and alleviate the heavy influx of beneficiaries at service centers.
Minister Pule emphasized that the dignity of beneficiaries, particularly the elderly, has been compromised by these persistent wait times. “I do not want us to have all these long queues in all the centers or service centers, and the complaints that I’ve received are more on that,” Pule stated. “We are also in the process of adding more capacity to SASSA offices to ease the pressure of those offices that are understaffed and have more influx.”
The Minister’s return to a cabinet portfolio has drawn sharp criticism from some quarters, given that she was previously removed from her role as Minister of Communications in 2013 over alleged unethical conduct. Addressing questions about her fitness to lead the Social Development department, Pule remained resolute. “When people criticize you, they want you to improve, and therefore I’m willing to do that,” she remarked.
Beyond staffing increases, Minister Pule plans to intensify the digitization of grant collections through biometric verification. SASSA has actively called on all recipients to migrate to digital platforms, citing enhanced efficiency and stronger security for both the state and the beneficiaries.
This digitized verification process has already proven instrumental in detecting fraud and ensuring grants reach the correct individuals. According to the briefing, more than 400,000 recipient accounts were flagged for review. With approximately 260,000 of those cases already reviewed—representing roughly 60% to 65% of the targeted workload—the agency has saved nearly a billion rand.
To sustain these improvements, Minister Pule confirmed that her department will prioritize several senior appointments in the near future. These strategic hires are intended to enhance overall governance, strengthen internal controls, and ensure stronger accountability, accessibility, and effective communication within the agency moving forward.
