Giyani - Limpopo residents who get social grants have been reminded that they have until the end of December to re-register for new identification smart cards that are designed to avoid fraud and corruption.
If they do not re-register in time, they will have difficulty accessing their grants, warned spokesperson for the provincial South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) Norman Kutama on Wednesday.
"We strongly request beneficiaries to re-register so that they don't face challenges in getting their grants," he said.
The re-registration process is also conducted after school hours to make sure that parents or guardians do not keep children out of school in order to go reregister for child support grants and foster child grants.
Kutama said Sassa was rolling out a new biometric card for social grant beneficiaries that will cut down on fraud and corruption, improve on the delivery of grants and reduce the costs involved in making payouts.
He said the process started in June and will lapse at the end of December this year.
He insisted that all those who are fraudulently receiving social grants must come forward and declare themselves to Sassa.
"Even though the grace period has ended for those who are receiving social grants fraudulently, we still request them to come forward and processes will be followed in terms of how we deal with them," he said.
Sassa is also conducting home re-registration for those older than 75 years as well as for bedridden beneficiaries at home and hospitals.
Limpopo Health and Social Development MEC Norman Mabasa, is expected to visit one of the re-registration centres in Nkuri Village in Giyani on Thursday to help with the re-registration process.
Beneficiaries of the child support grant will be required to bring their babies, along with their birth certificates, for re-registration. The child's fingerprints will be taken to verify his or her identity before being given a smart card. - SAnews.gov.za
