CAPE TOWN – The Department of Social Development has established an inspectorate to deal with a large backlog of social grant fraud and corruption cases dating back to 2012.

Minister Bathabile Dlamini on Sunday said despite her department's interventions, identity theft and social grant fraud remain a big problem.

She was speaking to the media ahead of the department’s Anti-Corruption Conference in Pretoria.

Over the last year, forensic investigators have busted fraud syndicates operating in the Eastern Cape and have caught up with corrupt officials who've been falsifying documents in KwaZulu-Natal.

The department's acting Director-General Thokozani Magwaza believes an inspectorate can better address system breaches.

“We will be able to reduce the issues of fraud. We will be concentrating within the South African Social Security Agency and within the syndicate.”

Since 2010, more than 300 officials have been suspended or dismissed while 12 people resigned before their disciplinary hearings took place.