5 700 grant beneficiaries still locked out of payment system

More than 5 700 pensioners and other social-grant beneficiaries are still waiting to be returned to government’s payment system after their grants were suspended during a verification exercise earlier this year.

Gender equality and child welfare minister Emma Kantema told the National Assembly on Tuesday that 15 785 beneficiaries were affected, of whom 10 066 had since verified their identities, been reinstated and received payment.

Kantema said government had to ensure public money was paid only to legitimate beneficiaries, but acknowledged the process had delayed vulnerable people who depended on the grants.

“Of the 10 066 beneficiaries, they have been captured, and payment was made,” she said.

The minister’s figures mean approximately 64% of the affected cases have been resolved, while about 36% – or 5 719 – remain outstanding.

The affected group includes old-age pensioners, child-welfare beneficiaries and recipients of other social grants.

Kantema said officials were continuing to process documentation and capture beneficiaries’ information but acknowledged that the volume of cases had slowed the exercise.

“The remaining ones are being captured as we are receiving the documentation and identification,” she said.

“Even though we do acknowledge that, due to the overwhelming numbers that we have received, there has been slowness on the system and slowness in capturing the data.”

The verification exercise followed an audit query concerning the information contained in the ministry’s beneficiary database.

Kantema said some beneficiaries had originally been registered using old South African identity documents, temporary identity slips issued while they waited for permanent documents or outdated Namibian identity cards.

In some cases, the details recorded in the grants database did not match information in the national population register administered by the home affairs ministry.

The minister said beneficiaries who later obtained updated identity documents were expected to present them to the gender equality ministry so officials could confirm their identities and life status.

October target

The gender equality and finance ministries have set up a steering committee to speed up the reinstatement process.

Kantema said approving beneficiaries’ records involved both ministries because her officials captured and verified the information before the finance ministry processed it for payment.

The government intends to extend officials’ working hours and authorise overtime to clear the remaining cases.

“I want to reassure the nation that this issue is receiving the attention that it deserves, and we are hoping that by the next payment period, very likely October, we will be at least clear on the backlog,” Kantema said.

The minister said payments made after reinstatement would incorporate the N$100 increase that raised the monthly old-age grant from N$1 600 to N$1 700.

Her remarks indicate that qualifying beneficiaries will not lose the increase because their records were temporarily removed from the payment system. However, she did not explain how many months of arrears would be paid or whether every outstanding beneficiary would be reinstated.