Biometrics in social grants: Separating myth from reality

The South African government provides a social assistance programme that pays out monetary grants to qualifying persons. In 2012, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) who manages these social grants, instituted a new form of identification that required the capturing of biometric features such as fingerprints and voice samples, to better identify the grant recipients in order to reduce fraud. This paper describes the development of a framework for an appropriate implementation of biometrics for the social grant programme taking into account the security requirements as well as the vulnerability of the grant recipients.