The elderly targeted

ELDERLY people who struggle to put food on the table due to their social grants not being enough to sustain them are “at the mercy” of loan sharks, crime expert Niven Naidoo said.

- YOSHIN! PERUMAL

He said the elderly were handing their Sassa cards, pin-codes and identity documents to loan sharks as a security for their loans from illegal lenders.

“The targeting of the elderly and other government grant recipients, like people with disabilities, is a particularly disturbing and concerning trend. In many communities, loan sharks offer small loans in exchange for temporary possession of a person’s Sassa cards, pin-codes and identity documents.

“These cards are then used to withdraw social grants every month until the debt is repaid. Sometimes the borrower ends up paying the same loan several times over. This is a vulnerable sector of society and they are at the mercy of loan sharks,” said Naidoo.