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More fingers point to Dlamini in SASSA saga

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 11 Apr 2017
Former social development DG Zane Dangor tells the ConCourt his side of the story.
Former social development DG Zane Dangor tells the ConCourt his side of the story.

Former social development DG Zane Dangor has disputed minister Bathabile Dlamini's claims she cannot be held responsible for the crisis caused as the result of uncertainty over the future of social grant payments, which resulted in the extension of the invalid Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) contract.

In an affidavit, Dangor told the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) the crisis was "self-created" to ensure CPS, a Net1 UEPS Technologies subsidiary, retained its business as social grants distributor even after its contract period was up.

Dangor tendered his resignation last month amid the legal battle for the distribution of the social grants. He cited a complete breakdown in the relationship between him and Dlamini over the management processes of paying grants on 1 April, and legal requirements obliged by the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) as reasons for his departure.

The legal document filed by Dangor comes on the heels of SASSA CEO Thokozani Magwaza's affidavit that claims the minister was aware as early as July 2015 of the agency's inability to take over payments.

In her affidavit to the ConCourt, Dlamini claimed she only became aware in October 2016 that SASSA would not be able to pay social grants.

However, Magwaza told the court the minister derailed SASSA's plans to take over the grant payments, which subsequently resulted in the continuation of social grant payment services with CPS.

According to Business Day, Dangor confirmed Magwaza's version of events that work-streams set up to look into taking over the payment of social grants were working as a parallel structure to SASSA and reporting directly to Dlamini.

"These processes serve to confirm that Mr Magwaza cannot be blamed for noncompliance with filing a document with the Constitutional Court as suggested in the minister's affidavit," the newspaper quotes.

"It further serves to strengthen the views that Mr Magwaza, others and I held that the parallel decision-making structures in the form of the work-streams may have been deliberate to ensure a continued relationship with CPS under conditions favourable to CPS, through a self-created emergency."

CPS to the rescue

Despite concerns over the illegal deductions conducted on social grant beneficiaries' accounts by CPS, the company will continue to distribute welfare grants on behalf of SASSA for another year.

Human rights organisations like Black Sash as well as SASSA and the social development department have been vocal over unauthorised deductions from recipients' accounts.

SASSA had plans to take over distribution of social grants and bring the payments process in-house, but as it noted, it miscalculated the magnitude of such a task.

Amid growing concerns that social grants payments would not be paid on 1 April, Dlamini and SASSA were called to answer to the highest court in the land.

The ConCourt decided to extend the invalid CPS contract over a 12-month period as a way to avert a social payments disaster that threatened the livelihoods of more than 17 million citizens.

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