Monday, April 23, 2012

South Africa Announces Biometric Safeguards for Welfare Programs

Tough new steps to fight grant fraud (Independent Online)
Authorities will record the voices of and re-fingerprint up to 5 million people, as well as taking the footprints of children under six in a bid to clamp down on rampant fraud and abuse of welfare payments in KwaZulu-Natal, the province with the worst record for such fraud.

SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) spokesman Cuba Mahaye yesterday said the new verification process, to be implemented countrywide, would also be applied to those who received disability and pension grants.
The full article has a more detailed explanation of the type and scope of fraud involved. The less people see welfare programs as a means to defraud the public, the more they will support them.