No, there isn’t a decrease of 6 million beneficiaries in the 2021-22 financial.
In the 2020/21 financial year we paid 12 628 175 beneficiaries (that is the people who actually receive the social grant). Thus there was an increase of 159 691 to 12 787 866 between the two years.
The total number of grants paid in the 2020/21 financial year was 18 440 572 and this has increased to 18 677 339 in the 2021/22 financial year. A beneficiary may receive more than one grant, e.g. a caregiver receiving 2 child grants for 2 children. Hence the number of beneficiaries are smaller than the number of grants paid.