The Social Assistance Act provides a national legislative framework for the provision of different types of social grants and crisis intervention in the form of social relief of distress, the delivery of social assistance grants by a national Agency (SASSA), as well as the establishment of an Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals (ITSAA) and the Inspectorate for Social Security.

The functions of the Inspectorate are to:

• Conduct investigations to ensure the integrity of the social assistance Frameworks and systems
• Carry out internal financial audits and audits of Sassa to ensure that it is Sticking to laws and policies
• Investigate fraud, corruption and mismanagement within Sassa
• Establish a complaints mechanism
• Fight against the abuse of social assistance.