Sassa says no ‘double grant’ payment in June

Social media posts announcing double grant payments for recipients next month are fake news.

The disinformation was highlighted by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) which is concerned about the rapid spread of fake news targeting the agency and its services almost daily.

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Sassa national spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said they deal with disinformation created by ‘faceless people’ whose intentions are to mislead, cause panic and create false hope.

“We want to state categorically that no announcement has been made for double grant payments in June. These reports are untrue and should be rejected with the contempt they deserve.

“In line with the Ministry of Finance’s policy statement in March, grant increases were announced and came into effect in April, and there will be another increase in October. Any other increase not announced by credible or relevant authorities should be treated as lies,” she said.

Letsatsi said fake reports have spread like wildfire, saying Sassa has announced ‘New Rules Could Affect Your Pension’ from 10 June.

“The report has even gone further, announcing various dates for the different provinces. This is not an official announcement from Sassa.

“On 30 April 2025, Sassa announced verification process only for targeted grant beneficiaries in the May 2025 payment run to encourage them to update their information at Sassa offices.

“The targeted beneficiaries were those who use alternative forms of identification other than the standard 13-digit South African ID number to receive their social grants.

“Other beneficiaries targeted include those identified through the bulk means test process, to check if have some income that flows into other bank accounts that they did not disclose to Sassa.”

She said beneficiaries must check credible sources of information.

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