PARLIAMENT, March 17 (ANA) – A special meeting is to be called in Parliament so that the social development department and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) can present a plan of action following Friday’s Constitutional Court ruling which permitted that Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) continue paying welfare grants on behalf of the State for another year.
“A special Committee meeting will be scheduled as soon as possible so that the Department and Sassa can present their plans and a programme of action with regards to the orders handed down by the Constitutional Court,” the Portfolio Committee on Social Development said in a statement Friday.
“Furthermore, the Committee apologises for all the suffering that the people of South Africa might have experienced due to this debacle. All outstanding matters, which are at various levels of government according to the roles of those structures, will continue.”
In 2014, South Africa’s highest court ruled the contract between Sassa and CPS unlawful. It suspended the invalidity of the contract until March 31 this year so that the social development department and Sassa could put in place plans to take over the payment of grants. However, both the department and Sassa had not put in place systems to do so.
The court granted the extension of the contract for one year, instead of two years as requested by social development.
The court also said the executive had failed in its constitutional duty, and ordered that Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini furnish the court with reasons as to why she should not be held personally liable for the cost of the case.
The parliamentary committee said it was happy in the way the court dealt with the matter, and said it would observe with a keen eye that the department and Sassa does the court’s bidding.
“The Committee is happy that grant recipients will get their money on 1 April 2017 and will ensure that the Department of Social Development and Sassa are monitored and comply with the orders of the Constitutional Court.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
