Minister in the Department of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini says 17 million social grant beneficiaries will be paid on 1 April, despite no clarity on the agreement terms reached to ensure payments are distributed.
Dlamini briefed media in Pretoria this morning, amid the whirlwind confusion on the issue of social grant payments in SA as the contract with the current payments master approaches its sell-by date at the end of March.
Social grant payments are administered and distributed by Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), a subsidiary of US-based Net1 UEPS Technologies, after it was awarded a five-year, R10 billion tender in January 2012.
The tender was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) in 2014, after it emerged irregular tendering processes were followed in the awarding of the tender. The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) was ordered to initiate a new tender process for the payment of social grants.
The department and SASSA have been locked in negotiations with CPS since Wednesday to discuss the terms and conditions of the new contract.
On Friday, a department statement noted SASSA and CPS have reached an agreement after they were locked up in intense negotiations for three days.
In the statement, the department said "minister Dlamini would like to reassure social grant beneficiaries that government will through SASSA continue to administer and pay social grants on April 1, 2017".
However, at this morning's briefing Dlamini did not clarify the terms of the agreement reached with CPS to ensure social grants are paid.
Responding to questions on the issue, a department representative said there is no deal at hand.
"A deal will mean a signed-off contract and a service level agreement and signed-off contract will entail the deliverables and the cost structure, therefore there is no deal in this regard. We are still going to follow our internal processes that will lead to the conclusion of this process with the signing of the contract."
Legal implications
After numerous failed attempts, the department and SASSA finally filed its supplementary progress report requesting the ConCourt to consider extending the CPS contract.
Social development is looking to the highest court in the land to have the invalid tender extended.
According to SASSA, it has come out with six options of paying out grants after the expiry of the current CPS contract. The most viable option, according to its analysis, is that of contracting with CPS again from 1 April on a short-term basis until a new tender is advertised, the agency has said.
Meanwhile, amid the social grants payment disaster, DG of the department Zane Dangor tendered his resignation on Friday.
Dangor's resignation is the latest blow for the department as it scrambles to find solutions for the potential disaster that will affect the most vulnerable South Africans.
According to reports, Dangor resigned because of a complete breakdown in the relationship between him and Bathabile Dlamini over the payment of social grants and the legal requirements obliged by SASSA.
Eyewitness News reports that Dangor submitted his resignation on Friday and is "not sure" whether Dlamini received the document
"It's a breakdown in the relationship between the myself and minister following disagreements on the management of the processes on paying the grants on 1 April, particularly disagreements on SASSA's obligation in relation to the Constitutional Court," Dangor told Eyewitness News.
During the briefing, the Dlamini refused to answer questions on Dangor's resignation, noting that his exit from the department will be discussed internally.
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