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The Portfolio Committee on Social Development welcomes the findings of the investigation conducted on the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) application and payment system administered by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).
In October last year, two students from the University of Stellenbosch, Mr Joel Cedras and Mr Veer Gosai alleged that the SRD application and payment system of SASSA is vulnerable. In response to the allegations, the Department of Social Development appointed Masegare and Associates Incorporated to conduct a thorough review of the SRD grant system. The investigation focused on identifying and mitigating potential vulnerabilities, ensuring the security of beneficiary data, and safeguarding public resources.
The investigation revealed that the overall threat level for the SRD grant is at medium level. Key vulnerabilities include weaknesses in the OTP-based authentication, the allowance for multiple applicants per cell phone number, and the use of a mobile money service that exposes the platform to potential fraud and misuse.
The investigation recommended that SASSA introduce multi-factor authentication that combines OTPs with biometric verification or secure tokens to provide robust protection against unauthorized access and mitigate risks such as SIM swap fraud. It also recommended that SASSA broadens the use of biometric verification to include more transactions or introduce randomized checks to enhance fraud prevention by making it more difficult for malicious actors to exploit the system.
The committee expects quarterly reports from the department on SASSA’s implementation of the recommendations made on the investigation report on the SRD grant payment system.
Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, Bridget Masango
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