DURBAN - Hundreds of Sassa cards have been seized in police operations in KwaZulu-Natal since the start of the year.
In the latest bust, officers from the Provincial Organised Crime Unit recovered nine Sassa cards, 12 bank cards and nine IDs during a raid at a property in Mona, in Tongaat. No arrests were made, however, police are investigating further.
Last month, police arrested a 50-year-old woman after officers found six Sassa cards, IDs and bank cards in her Mariannhill home. Just days before, four people were arrested while allegedly drawing monies, using Sassa cards at an ATM in Brighton Beach. The four were arrested and police seized the cards and R29 550 in cash.
In April, police recovered 50 Sassa cards and R179 200 in cash during a raid at a home in Zululand.
"Police found an AK47 rifle, a pistol and a revolver. They also found 19 bank cards, 47 easy pay cards and 130 IDs," KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said.
Meanwhile, Sassa has condemned the soaring robberies at Post Offices just hours before social grants' payouts.
Sassa's Sandy Godlwana said the Howick and Glencoe Post Offices were broken into and laptops, money and Sassa cards stolen.
She said Sassa cards have been designed to protect social grant beneficiaries from unlawful deductions however there is an emerging trend or scam where beneficiaries’ funds are withdrawn from their cards without the beneficiaries’ consent or knowledge.
“It is suspected that this involves duplicating beneficiaries’ cards and then clearing out their legitimate accounts,” Godlwana said.
"We vow to leave no stone unturned to fight fraud with regard to social grants. We exercise a zero tolerance to anyone who commits or is complicit in fraud in the social grant environment. We urge anyone who may have information on the robbery or people who defraud beneficiaries’ grants to contact Sassa or the nearest police station," she said.
She appealed to law enforcement agencies to act swiftly in apprehending the perpetrators. Beneficiaries who use Glencoe and Howick Post Offices have been advised to use ATMs situated at various merchant stores in their respective areas.
IOL