Thousands of people have not received their social grant benefits for January. According to the South African Social Security Agency, the delay is caused by an error with the personal information verification process. Reports say up to 150 000 beneficiaries have been affected, a devastating blow for many families at the beginning of the year. In 2023, payment failures also left thousands of beneficiaries in financial distress for two months. For clarity on this issue, we spoke to Social Development minister Lindiwe Zulu