Between 2014 and 2025, fraud perpetrated by government employees and contractors accounted for 75% of all reported social grant fraud, while fraud by beneficiaries accounted for just 17%. On average, only 54 beneficiaries per year were reported for fraud. In the context of approximately 28 million social grant recipients in 2025, this raises serious concerns about the disproportionate focus on policing beneficiaries. Our factsheet shows that the scale of resources dedicated to detecting beneficiary fraud is unjustifiable, particularly given the harmful consequences of these measures.

Public concern about fraud in South Africa’s social protection system has grown sharply in recent years. In response, the government has introduced automated and algorithmic measures, including stricter surveillance, biometric checks, and large-scale verification processes. However, these interventions often misidentify wrongdoing, place the burden of compliance on elderly, disabled, and low-income beneficiaries, and result in unfair exclusion.

In this webinar, the Institute for Economic Justice presented new research examining where fraud actually occurs in the social protection system. The discussion explored how current anti-fraud approaches disproportionately target beneficiaries while overlooking systemic sources of fraud, and how these measures are undermining the objectives of social protection.

The webinar featured contributions from Dr Caroline Khene (Institute of Development Studies), Abigail May (Open Secrets), Dr Kelle Howson (Institute for Economic Justice), and Siyanda Baduza (Institute for Economic Justice), who brought perspectives spanning social protection, governance, and digital systems. Together, they reflected on the political economy, design, and impacts of South Africa’s welfare fraud crackdown.