The Constitutional Court (ConCourt) has appointed a panel of 10 experts that will monitor phasing out the services of the current social grants distributor, Cash Paymaster Services (CPS).
The high-level panel, which includes former South African Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus; Mavuso Msimang, a former CEO at the State IT Agency; and Tim Masela, head of National Payments System at the South African Reserve Bank, was initiated in terms of the order of the ConCourt.
Last month, social development minister Bathabile Dlamini said her department plans to have a new services provider by November, which is part of the transition towards the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) taking over the payments function.
CPS, a Net1 UEPS Technologies subsidiary, distributes social grants on behalf of SASSA after the ConCourt granted a one-year extension of the current contract. The terms of the contract stipulate that the court and panel must monitor SASSA and CPS.
The other experts are Angela Bester, Anthony Felet, Werner Krull, Mmamolatelo Mathekga, Brand Taute, Doris Tshepe and Heinz Weilert.
In a statement, SASSA says it welcomes the appointment by the court. "These experts will, among other things, assist with monitoring of the process leading to the phasing out of CPS and beyond, as directed by the court in The Black Sash Trust vs Minister of Social Development and others."
It adds it will give the panel all the required support to ensure the process becomes a success and that grant beneficiaries are protected by all means possible.
Meanwhile, SASSA has warned about hoax information being circulated regarding the December 2017 expiry date reflected on the current payments card.
The agency says "no beneficiary of social grants will be affected by this expiry date".
It states: "SASSA is in a planning phase regarding the future payment of social grants once the contract with the current service provider CPS comes to an end in March 2018. As soon as final plans are in place, beneficiaries will be informed about the updating process later on in the year.
"All social grant recipients are warned not to heed the call by anyone to change their cards."
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