In court papers requesting the extension of the current payments contract, social development minister Bathabile Dlamini has taken responsibility for the last-minute attempts to resolve the social grants fiasco.
This comes on the back of Dlamini's nonchalant approach to determine if the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) has the capacity to distribute payments to 17 million social grant beneficiaries when the contract with the current payments master reaches its sell-by date at the end of March.
The Star, which obtained the filed court papers, reports SASSA admitted to not implementing the progress report to take over social grant payments.
SASSA also conceded current social grants distributor Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), a subsidiary of US-based Net1 UEPS Technologies, is the best candidate to ensure beneficiaries receive social grants on 1 April.
This is despite the fact that the CPS contract was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) after it emerged irregular tendering processes were followed in the awarding of the tender.
The highest court in the land ordered SASSA to act on a new tender, and in 2015, the agency issued a new tender contract but did not award it, instead opting to move the payment of social grants in-house.
According to the newspaper, Dlamini and SASSA state they take full responsibility for the delay. "The minister and SASSA accept responsibility for delays in identifying and redressing deficiencies in the plan since the time of reporting to the court on 5 November 2015."
The Star adds it is Dlamini who said she "accepts responsibility for the delays in identifying and redressing deficiencies", in the court papers.
Familiar moves
Last month, SASSA admitted to the social development portfolio committee in Parliament it will not be able to handle the mammoth task of distributing social grants without the help of CPS.
According to the agency, it came out with six options of paying out social 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.
After numerous failed attempts, the Department of Social Development and SASSA finally filed a supplementary progress report yesterday, requesting the ConCourt to consider extending the CPS contract.
In the court papers, SASSA claims if the CPS contract is not extended, millions of South Africans will not be able to receive their grants because the department does not have the capacity to deal with the payments, reports The Star.
Although SASSA began negotiations with CPS to discuss the terms and conditions of the new contract this week, the agency is reportedly also considering using money trucks if all fails.
According to The Star, SASSA DG Zane Dangor said: "We will do what we have done in exceptional cases in the past. It is risky, but it has been done before.
"It is to take cash directly on trucks and pay people. That option will be deployed if all else fails. We don't see that happening though."
Step back
Joining human rights organisations like The Black Sash Trust that has called for the protection of social grant beneficiaries, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) expressed concerns over the looming additional hardship that will affect the most vulnerable South Africans.
Yesterday, the labour federation held a briefing following its Central Executive Committee meeting and stated it is concerned about the inept manner in which SASSA has handled the extension of its contract with CPS.
In a statement, Cosatu appealed to the president to intervene and called for heads to roll at SASSA.
"The minister and her team in the department need to take political responsibility for this crisis, by resigning or be dismissed.
"They have failed to deal decisively with the irregular expenditure and irregular tender procedures that have resulted in the threat to the livelihoods of 17 million grant beneficiaries. This is not just an administrative bungling but it is a political own goal that smells of corruption."
Meanwhile, in a statement on Facebook, the department says the minister met with social development MECs to discuss progress regarding the social grants payment system by SASSA beyond 31 March when the current CPS contract expires.
The meeting noted and acknowledged the negotiations under way between the department, SASSA, National Treasury and CPS regarding a transitional arrangement while the agency is putting in place all necessary measures to become a paymaster of social grants in SA, according to the statement.
"The meeting reiterated government's assurance that all eligible social grants beneficiaries will receive their money on time. The meeting further committed itself to working with and supporting all the critical steps that SASSA outlined in the institutionalisation of the social grants payment process."
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