Sassa: We are ready to issue social grants in April
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has given the assurance that come April 1st the country’s 17 million social grants beneficiaries will receive their grant payments.
Concern is mounting over the Department of Social Development’s ability to ensure that payments are made.
This follows a 2013 Constitutional Court judgment, which declared SASSA’s contract with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) invalid. It ordered the department to initiate another tender.
Spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi says the department has now decided not to approach the Constitutional Court to ask it to allow an extention of the contract with CPS.
"After consultation and considering the legal advice we had been given we came to the conclusion that we should file progress reports to ConCourt it had ordered as to do,” Letsatsi says.
The decision not to approach the courts follows reports of a row between Finance minister Pravin Gordhan and Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini. National Treasury had advised SASSA not to extend the contract with CPS, as it would open the state up to legal action.
It also said that operating grant payments on its own will not be sustainable due to complexity of the task, and proposed that it be distributed through the South Africa Post Office.
Letsatsi says they will present a progress report to the Constitutional Court by the end of March 2017.
‘The report we will be giving to ConCourt will be based on our state of readiness on issuing grants before April and how far we are in terms of this process. We cannot give more details of what the report will entail before we present it to ConCourt’ Letsatsi says.