SASSA IMPLEMENTS BIOMETRIC SYSTEMS TO STRENGTHEN SECURITY

By Precious Mupenzi

• The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has been using a new biometric verification system since the beginning of September 2025.
• “Although we are only two weeks into the rollout and addressing some initial operational challenges, the process is progressing well,” SASSA’s CEO Themba Matlou told the Parliamentary portfolio on social development.
• The mandatory biometric verification and electronic Know Your Customer processes form a critical step in safeguarding the integrity of South Africa’s social security system.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has rolled out biometric verification systems across all its offices from 1 September 2025, as part of efforts to strengthen accountability and curb rising incidents of identity theft.

This update was presented to the Parliamentary portfolio of social development on 17 September 2025 by SASSA’s CEO, Themba Matlou.

Providing progress on the agency’s implementation of the mandatory biometric verification and electronic Know Your Customer processes, Matlou highlighted that these measures form a critical step in safeguarding the integrity of the social security system.

*Curbing fraud through biometrics*

Presenting the technical details, SASSA’s Brenton van Vrede explained that the biometric system captures fingerprints and facial features of applicants, ensuring that the person applying is indeed who they claim to be. The system also verifies data against the Department of Home Affairs’ automated biometric identification system.

He noted that between April 2022 and April 2024 the South African Fraud Prevention Service had seen a 356% increase in identity fraud cases – and SASSA had not been spared, with the Special Relief of Distress payments proving particularly vulnerable to fraudulent applications.

“Biometric systems link transactions directly to individuals, ensuring that both clients and staff are accountable. This will drastically reduce fraudulent claims and improve the integrity of our grant system,” Van Vrede told the committee.

How the system works?

Under the new process, clients enrolling for grants will provide fingerprints (both index fingers and thumbs) and facial recognition data, which will be stored securely in SASSA’s database. These records are then cross-checked with the Department of Home Affairs during the first application.

For follow-up visits, SASSA will verify clients against its own records, reducing delays. Should the Department of Home Affairs system be unavailable, applications can still proceed, with verification completed before payments are finalised.

Children under the age of three will not be enrolled via fingerprints, while refugees and asylum seekers without Department of Home Affairs records will still have their biometrics captured on SASSA’s system to prevent duplicate applications.

Special provisions also exist for clients with unreadable fingerprints, amputations, or faded prints due to age, who will instead be verified through facial recognition.

Training and compliance

Van Vrede confirmed that all SASSA offices had been equipped with the new biometric technology and staff trained ahead of the September rollout.

The system has been “locked” to prevent staff from bypassing biometric verification, ensuring that all new applications are captured.

A limited number of staff continue to process applications received before September, but these will soon be migrated to the biometric platform.

Since June 2025, all new applicants for the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress, as well as cases flagged for suspected fraud, have been required to undergo facial biometric verification. This will soon extend to clients updating their personal details, such as mobile numbers.

Enrolments and system performance

In the first two weeks of the rollout, more than 42 000 biometrics were enrolled and verified on the systems. While this demonstrates significant progress, the agency has also encountered challenges, particularly around system performance during peak times.

“Our resource usage is extremely high during peak times, and this sometimes leads to performance degradation, which means the systems are slowing down. Our ICT team has been monitoring this daily, fine-tuning systems, allocating additional resources, and ensuring quick responses to meet the demand,” he said.

Staff training and on-the-job support

Van Vrede acknowledged that while many staff members are accustomed to using biometric systems for themselves, operational errors have occurred during client processing. To address this, every local office has been empowered with super-users who provide on-the-job training and immediate assistance.

“This approach has not only resolved challenges in the process flow but has also improved the confidence and knowledge of our staff in using the system,” he added.

Collaboration with Home Affairs

Another key challenge has been the dependency on the Department of Home Affairs’ systems for verification. “If Home Affairs is down, we have to switch over to a workaround, where we can still process applications without the check,” Van Vrede explained.

He emphasised that continuous collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs remains crucial in ensuring proactive communication with SASSA offices when downtime occurs, along with guidance on alternative processes.

Oversight and accountability

Members of the portfolio committee welcomed the progress but raised critical issues for clarification.

Alexandra Abrahams pointed out that earlier statistics indicated 53 000 verifications completed, with 5 000 flagged as fraudulent – a 6% fraud rate. She stressed that if this percentage were applied across the grants system, it could potentially save the government billions of rand annually.

Abrahams requested details on the timing of SASSA’s next verification report to National Treasury, the extent of system downtime at the Department of Home Affairs, the level of integration with the department’s upgraded verification system already used by banks, the overall cost of the rollout, and whether SASSA was duplicating systems already run by the Department of Home Affairs instead of leveraging them.

Tshilidzi Munyai commended the progress made since the Stellenbosch report but pressed for specifics on ICT capacity and performance, requesting clarity on the measurable system performance indicators, including downtime and transaction failures, a time-bound plan to resolve infrastructure strain such as central processing unit overutilisation, and confirmation of a formal service-level agreement with the Department of Home Affairs to manage connectivity challenges.

SASSA reassures committee

Responding to these concerns, Matlou assured committee members that governance and oversight mechanisms were firmly in place.

“SASSA has commenced with the implementation of the biometric verification system as of September.

“Although we are only two weeks into the rollout and addressing some initial operational challenges, the process is progressing well,” the CEO noted.

“The noble intention is clear: to ensure that only eligible beneficiaries remain in the system. We are conducting continuous oversight to identify areas requiring intervention, and with the committee’s guidance, we will strengthen the system further.

“This marks an important step towards safeguarding the integrity of our social security services,” said Matlou.

He explained that internal audits conducted quarterly reviewed vulnerabilities, while an independent risk committee conducts monthly assessments to track risks and corrective action.

SASSA also provides quarterly reports to National Treasury, with the next submission due in October, which will also be shared with the committee.

On collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs, Matlou emphasised that a memorandum of agreement governs data sharing, supported by operational meetings and planned high-level engagements between the directors-general.

He acknowledged occasional downtime but clarified that these disruptions were typically short-lived, averaging 10 minutes, and quickly restored.

Addressing fraud prevention, Matlou reiterated that biometrics act as a preventative mechanism, ensuring that ineligible applicants are automatically rejected at the point of onboarding.

He committed to providing detailed statistics on lapses, suspensions, and cost savings in forthcoming progress reports.

Towards a fraud-free system

The portfolio committee emphasised the importance of close oversight to ensure the biometric rollout strengthens fraud prevention without excluding genuine beneficiaries.

For SASSA, the biometric verification programme represents a turning point in modernising operations, restoring public trust, and protecting limited resources so that social grants continue to reach those who need them most.