SYSTEM HICCUPS: Sassa Image: Ian Landsberg SASSA's new biometric verification drive has led to the suspension of 68 000 grants. Since the implementation of the system in September 2025, the Department of Social Development has confirmed a massive R302 billion allocation for the 2026/27 financial year, with R293 billion directed towards social grants. The biometric rollout, which now spans Sassa’s 432 offices, forms part of a broader national effort to prevent identity fraud and ensure that only qualifying beneficiaries remain on the system. By March 2026, about one million new applications had already been processed through the system. The figures were disclosed in a parliamentary reply by Minister of Social Development Sisisi Tolashe before her dismissal by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week. According to Tolashe, the number of social grant beneficiaries biometrically verified at local offices since the implementation of compulsory biometric enrolment for new applicants in September 2025 is 997 379, with monthly figures showing steady uptake across the period. While the rollout has expanded, concerns continue over access challenges, system failures and growing pressure at Sassa service points. The department confirmed that suspensions and lapses linked to non-compliance are tracked quarterly, with 67 868 grants suspended in the third quarter alone, alongside thousands of additional cases that later lapsed across reporting periods. Tolashe explained that enforcement follows a structured process, stating that “a grant is suspended two months after a beneficiary was notified to conduct a review and has not yet done so. ''If after suspension, the beneficiary still does not come forward to conduct the review, the grant will lapse after one month’s notice of such.” Child Support Grants accounted for the highest number of affected beneficiaries at 37 825, followed by Old Age Grants at 20 429 and Disability Grants at 7 908, as income testing