Sassa reviews voice recognition system

Oscar Thomas
08 August 2014

The South African Social Security Agency said due to security issues it is reviewing its voice recognition system. 

The introduction of the system in January was to route out corruption and fraud when it comes to social grants. 

The technology functions the same as the PIN and fingerprint verification systems, however it is more efficient to shorten long queues at the pay points. 

SASSA Spokesperson Kgomoco Diseko said the system has been adopted in an effort to prevent frauds using the identities or drawing the grants of people who have died.

Doseko said it requires beneficiaries to call a toll-free number and follow the prompts to provide voice samples, which are recorded.

“When beneficiaries collect their grants at a Sassa payout point, they speak into a microphone and their voices are checked against the recording. They are paid their grants if these match Diseko added.