A court-appointed panel of experts is concerned the future of social grant payments will once again be up in the air, as the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is delaying matters that will ensure beneficiaries receive their grants on 1 April.
Eyewitness News reports the panel revealed in its evaluation report to the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) this week that it is worried because "SASSA has not yet applied to extend its contract with CPS for another six months".
The agency previously indicated it will need to continue using the services of CPS for at least six months after the contract ends in March.
The panel, appointed last year by the ConCourt to monitor phasing out the services of CPS, is also disturbed by the vague nature of SASSA's action plan for future social grants payments.
The panel's comments come days after Black Sash slammed SASSA's report submitted to the ConCourt about how social grants will be paid when the contract with CPS ends in March.
According to Black Sash, the report submitted to the ConCourt detailing how beneficiaries will be paid creates more confusion than clarity.
Last year, millions of vulnerable beneficiaries feared they would not receive their social grants, as SASSA fumbled to find a suitable provider to take over from CPS. The ConCourt was required to intervene to avert a SASSA payments disaster.
New payment methods
Yesterday, SASSA announced it had successfully paid over two million beneficiaries who receive their grants from commercial banks through its paymaster general account, which it says is in line with phasing out CPS.
A statement from the agency notes: "As from the 1st of March 2018, SASSA will also do direct transfers to about 5.7 million beneficiaries who use the SASSA card. This will bring about 80% of payment transactions under the control of SASSA by the end of March 2018.
"By April, the only beneficiaries whose payments won't be falling under SASSA's direct control will be the ones paid in cash at SASSA pay points. SASSA has already gone to the market for the cash payment category by way of advertising a tender. This represents just under three million beneficiaries."
More than 10 million social grant payments are administered and distributed by CPS, a subsidiary of US-based Net1 UEPS Technologies.
The CPS contract, which was declared invalid, would have come to an end last year in March. The ConCourt suspended the order of invalidity and ordered a year-long extension of the contract until 31 March to avoid a social grants catastrophe.
Social development minister Bathabile Dlamini and SASSA were ordered by the court to use the time to find an alternative service provider to distribute social grants from 1 April.
Hybrid ambitions
After a tumultuous negotiation period, that required the intervention of government, SASSA and the South African Post Office (SAPO) reached an agreement regarding the future of social grants payments.
The government entities agreed to implement a hybrid payment model that will increase the role of the banks and merchants, and reduce the role of cash payment for social grants.
Meanwhile, Jeff Radebe, minister in the presidency, has been easing fears after reports stating there have been disputes between SAPO and SASSA.
Reports surfaced at the weekend claiming SAPO CEO Mark Barnes has been left frustrated with the manner in which SASSA deals with matters that are meant to finalise the service agreement.
Radebe has appealed to all the parties to respect and use the agreement, and reiterated that the social grants matter is too serious for government not to prioritise.
"[The] protocol and dispute resolution mechanism were agreed upon, together with the signing of the signed services agreement, signed by both parties.
"Government understands the interest the South African public has on this matter. It is for this reason that it has regularly briefed the public through scheduled media briefings and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Social Development and Standing Committee on Public Accounts," he said in a statement.
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