Two major South African insurance groups, Clientèle Life and Sanlam, are collecting a significant portion of funeral policy premiums deducted directly from social grants. These two entities, along with their subsidiaries, are responsible for R143.33-million in monthly deductions from nearly one million SASSA pension and disability grant beneficiaries. This represents 87% of the total R165-million in premiums deducted monthly from 1.11-million SASSA beneficiaries. The information was revealed by Minister of Social Development Nokuzola Sisisi Tolashe in response to a parliamentary question, following previous reports of unauthorized deductions from pensioners' grants. While SASSA has systems in place to prevent exploitation, including biometric verification and fraud checks, no action has been taken against insurers in the past five years for mis-selling or unauthorized deductions, as SASSA can only act if specific laws are flouted.