New Documentary: In South Africa, an Algorithm Stands in the Way of Social Security

‘Mind the People 'is a short film and Mozilla Africa Mradi awardee. The film exposes the impact of automated decision making on townships still reeling from Apartheid

(SOUTH AFRICA | TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2024) – A broken and opaque AI system is preventing South Africa’s most vulnerable communities from receiving the social security benefits they desperately need — the subject of a new film by researcher and Mozilla Africa Mradi awardee Duduetsang Mokoele.

“Mind the People” is a short documentary about South Africans living at the extreme poverty line ($1.33 USD per person per day) and their maddening, heartbreaking encounters with the state’s welfare algorithm.

Millions of South Africans rely on the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to afford food, soap, electricity, school supplies, and other necessities. SASSA programs like the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant are increasingly administered by algorithms — algorithms that are failing citizens.

Mokoele reveals how the SRD algorithm routinely and mysteriously declines qualified recipients, and the near-impossible nature of seeking appeals or accountability. The platform and algorithm are also English language-only, shutting out speakers of indigenous languages.

“Mind the People” travels from Eldorado Park to Mountain View and beyond, highlighting just how critical these grants are, and the consequences when an unjust algorithm denies them. In the words of one interviewee: “The ones who suffer the most do not get the grants.” Mokoele also speaks with Elizabeth Raiters, the human rights activist leading South Africa’s #paythegrants campaign.

Says Duduetsang Mokoele, a South African researcher and filmmaker: “In theory, the government’s social security algorithm is supposed to help South Africa’s most marginalized communities and lift them out of extreme poverty. In practice, the algorithm is doing just the opposite: reinforcing power and economic disparities in the world’s most unequal country.”

The Africa Mradi research grants are a new funding stream for researchers examining AI in Africa. The seven winning projects, including “Mind the People,” explore the impact of AI on diverse communities across the continent, and also the needs of these communities. Africa Mradi is Mozilla’s initiative to build movements and support trustworthy AI across Eastern and Southern Africa. It entails grantmaking, fellowships, leadership support, convenings, and research — by Africans and for Africans.

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Press contact: Kevin Zawacki | [email protected]