Durban - Police have arrested two men and confiscated 16 Sassa cards in a sting operation at a shopping centre in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban, on Friday morning.
Police also recovered R16 000 in cash, believed to have been withdrawn by the suspects.
It is alleged that the pair, aged 17 and 21, were seen withdrawing cash from an ATM inside a mall. Police were informed and the men were arrested.
When questioned about how they obtained the cards, the men could not provide police with an acceptable answer.
Sassa KZN executive manager Themba Matlou welcomed the arrests and recovery of the cash and cards.
“As Sassa, we subscribe to a zero-tolerance approach pertaining to fraud and corruption. We are satisfied with the increase in number of arrests and convictions that are recorded related to social grants fraud.
"We believe this will be a deterrent to all those aspirant in defrauding the social grants system," he said.
Matlou urged social grant beneficiaries not to use their social grants and payment cards to obtain loans, and cede their cards as guarantees for repayment.
"We are working closely with law enforcement agencies to remedy and curb illegal handling of payment cards and documents by moneylenders," he said.
"We further request all social grant beneficiaries to protect their cards. They must not give their card to anyone else, and under no circumstances should they divulge their personal identification number (PIN) to anyone. This PIN is the key to an account and must be protected at all times," Matlou added.
The two are due in court on Monday on charges of the contravention of the National Credit Act.