SASSA is going after pensioners more than other grant beneficiaries

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is taking its mandate to vet beneficiaries seriously.

This includes strictly enforcing its means testing.

An unlikely group being cut off from their grant is the country’s pensioners.

SASSA goes after pensioners

Buried in SASSA’s half-year report is a line showing it is performing strict means testing on pensioners.

The Older Person’s Grant, also called the Old Age Grant (OAG), is the only grant the government expects to increase spending.

However, SASSA appears to be means-testing pensioners more than any other grant recipient.

The agency completed the most administrative reviews on Old Age Grant beneficiaries.

By the end of June, pensioners made up 55% of all completed administrative reviews.

Pensioners were also most likely to have their grant suspended because the agency failed to complete a review.

Of the grants suspended, Old Age recipients made up 54%.

Pensioners also made up 73.7% of grant recipients whose grants were suspended due to means testing.

SASSA Means Testing Pensioners

Pensioners must prove they are eligible to get a grant on two fronts: income and assets.

A single pensioner cannot have an income outside of the SASSA grant of more than R9 350 a month.

A couple cannot have an income that exceeds R18 700 a month.

Pensioners also cannot have assets exceeding R3.16 million. This includes property and investments like retirement annuities.

This places pensioners in the Western Cape at the greatest risk of becoming ineligible for the grant.

Over the past 5 years, property prices in the province have increased 38%.

The average property value in the province is R1.8 million as of September 2026.

The province also has nearly half as many Old Age Grant beneficiaries as KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, despite having a comparable pensioner population.

Pensioners Struggling in Cost of Living Crisis

Pensioners are more likely to stay in the workforce or re-enter the workforce to subsidise the rising cost of living.

According to FNB’s Retirement Insights, 74% of South Africans over 60 find that the cost of living is higher than they expected.

Most were shocked by healthcare costs, followed by housing and emergencies.

Lower-income over-60s have been worst affected.

According to the FNB report, 44% of those in this group say retirement is going worse than expected.

As the cost of living rises, pensioners expect to supplement their income by getting a job or starting a business.