President calls for calm over Sassa matter
President Jacob Zuma has called for calm while addressing the media from Jakarta at the weekend.
The president, along with his wife Bongi is in Indonesia for the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Business Summit and attended the Leaders' Welcoming Dinner hosted by that country's President Joko Widodo.
Addressing the nation from Jakarta, Zuma said there is no need for panic as all grants will be paid on the 1st of April.
This comes amid growing concern that more than 17 million of South Africa's most vulnerable people will not be able to make ends meet as a result of the Sassa debacle.
In 2014 the Constitutional Court found that the company tasked with paying out the grants, Cash Paymaster Services was appointed unlawfully and gave the department of social development three years to rectify the situation.
Zuma also appealed to the ministers involved not to talk to the media about this issue.
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"Talking to the people and answering questions is not helping as it fertilizes speculation. Ministers must not talk. The lesser we talk the better," Zuma said.
He added that there is no "useful purpose in feeding into the speculation."
Zuma added that there is no crises yet and social grants will be paid come the 1st of April.
"Ministers should stop answering questions and just do what we said they must do," Zuma said.
This comes after the president met with the minister of finance, Pravin Gordhan and the minister of social development, Bathabile Dlamini at the weekend to try and resolve the matter.