SASSA has dismissed claims that it is giving out free school uniform.
This comes after messages circulated on Twitter and WhatsApp, claiming that the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is giving away school uniform.
The tweet originated in January 2018 from an account under the name of Themba Rumbu and coincided with the reopening of schools.
The agency said the false message could cause desperate parents to queue at SASSA offices instead of taking their children to school.
“The timing of the fake news itself shows malicious intent and furthermore builds mistrust between SASSA and the public.
“In order to not incur unnecessary transport costs to get to SASSA offices, only to be turned away, social grant beneficiaries are requested to be weary of scams via social media. These are messages which sound too good to be true,” said SASSA on the eve of the reopening of schools.
Social grant beneficiaries can also call the SASSA toll-free line on 0800 60 1011 to confirm authenticity of a message.
Meanwhile, SASSA has urged recipients of the fake news to delete the message and not to distribute it. – SAnews.gov.za
