Social Development Minister Dina Pule has called on the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to urgently address long queues, staff shortages and poor service at its offices, warning that immediate changes are needed to restore public confidence in the agency.
Pule raised these concerns during her maiden SASSA strategic planning session at Zebula Lodge in Bela Bela on Wednesday, October 21, where she called on the agency’s executive management to find practical solutions to the challenges facing social grant beneficiaries and members of the public.
The minister said she had received numerous complaints about poor service at some SASSA offices and urged management to use the three-day session to address operational problems while reviewing the agency’s performance and planning for the 2027/28 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period.
“While we must celebrate progress, we must not lose sight of the challenges that our people expect us to resolve. I am also receiving a lot of complaints about our poor services in some offices from our clients,” Pule said.
She identified long queues, staff shortages, staff conduct, system downtime and problems with the functionality of the biometric system as some of the issues requiring urgent attention.
Pule said the agency needed new strategies, innovative solutions and measurable interventions to improve service delivery and ensure beneficiaries received assistance without unnecessary delays.
“The agency should not be in the media for wrong reasons; we need to continue building a good legacy and positive brand,” she said.
The minister also called for improved access to SASSA services, particularly in communities where beneficiaries struggle to reach offices because of distance, limited infrastructure and other barriers.
She said the agency should prioritise mobile services and explore the establishment of multipurpose centres in areas where office space was limited.
Pule stressed that no beneficiary should be excluded from accessing social assistance because of their geographical location, poverty or limited access to technology.
She urged SASSA to take advantage of the Presidency’s digital transformation project to expand its technological capacity and make its services easier for the public to access.
However, she warned that the agency’s move towards digital services should not disadvantage older people, persons with disabilities, rural communities and beneficiaries who lack access to digital infrastructure.
Pule said frontline offices needed sufficient staff and resources because they were where beneficiaries directly experienced the agency’s services.
She called on SASSA chief executive officer Themba Matlou and his management team to ensure that offices with larger numbers of beneficiaries received appropriate interventions to manage demand.
“Beneficiaries should encounter sufficient capacity, professionalism, empathy and efficiency whenever they visit our offices,” she said.
The minister also called for improved system reliability and connectivity, saying service interruptions affected productivity and undermined public confidence.
She urged the agency to strengthen communication with beneficiaries and communities, arguing that SASSA needed a practical strategy to ensure ordinary South Africans understood its services and received accurate information.
Pule further called for improved queue management to prevent beneficiaries from spending excessive hours waiting for assistance.
Turning to governance, the minister congratulated SASSA on improving its overall performance from 74% in the 2024/25 financial year to 82% in 2025/26.
However, she said the agency needed to address outstanding audit findings and work towards achieving a clean audit.
Pule said she had engaged with the Auditor-General of South Africa and the Department of Social Development on the agency’s audit outcomes, including findings relating to its annual financial statements and predetermined objectives.
She called on SASSA executives to ensure that the approved audit action plan was fully implemented by the end of January 2027 to allow internal auditors to test the measures before the final audit.
“There must be consequences for non-performance, particularly against commitments in the audit action plan,” she said.
Pule also demanded urgent action to resolve problems involving missing files and payments to incorrect beneficiaries, warning that these issues were contributing to the department’s audit challenges.
She acknowledged complaints from beneficiaries about the social grant review process but said it was necessary to protect the integrity of the social assistance system and prevent fraud and corruption.
However, she stressed that the process should be seamless and accessible to poor people.
The minister urged SASSA management to emerge from the strategic planning session with clear commitments to improving accessibility, reducing queues, addressing staffing constraints and strengthening public confidence in the agency.
