Social development minister Dina Pule said the country’s social grants agency has flagged more than 420,000 beneficiaries for eligibility reviews in the 2025/26 financial year, a project that is expected to save the government about R1.5bn. Pule said the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) completed 240,000 of those reviews, while about 160,000 beneficiaries failed to comply and had their grants affected. The agency is targeting a further 350,000 reviews in the coming financial year, part of a broader push to tighten data verification and reduce fraud. “As we ensure that the vulnerable are supported with social protection, we must do so to ensure that every eligible person receives the support to which they are entitled. At the same time, we must ensure that public resources are protected and that the social assistance system remains credible, sustainable and fair,” Pule said at a media briefing on Tuesday. She told reporters the reviews, which check beneficiaries against records held by other government departments and financial institutions, are required under the Social Assistance Act and are designed to ensure grants reach only those who remain eligible. She said the agency’s biometric verification system, which links to the department of home affairs in real time, has helped curb identity theft and duplicate claims, while a new digital proof of life process is easing the burden on elderly and disabled beneficiaries in remote areas.The minister’s comments come weeks into her tenure leading a department that controls R271bn in annual grant spending, the second largest line item in the national budget after debt servicing. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Pule to the post on June 30, replacing Sisisi Tolashe, who was removed in May over undisclosed donations to the ANC Women’s League.Pule’s return to the cabinet has drawn criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups, who point to her removal as communications minister in 2013 after findings by parliament’s ethics committee that she had misled legislators and benefited a business associate through a conflict of interest tied to the 2012 ICT Indaba conference. The DA and Corruption Watch both said at the time of her reappointment that the Social Development portfolio, given its size and its history of scandal under previous ministers, required a candidate with an unblemished record.During the media briefing Pule said criticism comes with the territory of public service and noted she has been in the government for many years. She did not address the specifics of the 2013 findings.Pule said she plans to visit provincial Sassa offices in the coming weeks to monitor implementation of the review programme and other service improvements, including plans to hire more than 1,000 contract workers to reduce queues at grant offices nationwide.Business Day