“5 years to fix SASSA problem”
Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini has told Parliament’s portfolio committee on social development that the process to resolve the payment of social grants by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) will take up to five years.
“The balance of our staff right now does not represent what we expect from SASSA. Officials have been looking at the budget and we have agreed together that it’s not going to take 12 months to bring the whole problem to its totality. The company that is paying has to go we all agree, but this is going to be a five-year process,” she says.
She says the court has not yet made a decision on the appointment of a company to pay social grants.
“As the court is waiting to announce the service providers that were presented. We are concerned about the fact that issues are coming up in the newspapers that are aimed at influencing the whole process. One of the judges during the process said that they read what is in the newspapers, which means they are influenced by what is in the newspapers. This says whatever decision that comes will be influenced by what is in the public.”
She says social development is not the first department to not meet its targets.
“We are not the first department that not meet the target that was set. We understand why this target has gotten so much attention. Because it is about paying out pensions to the vulnerable and public representatives are supposed to raise issues of importance. Therefore if issues are raised at least we must be given the benefit of the doubt.