JOHANNESBURG, January 27 (ANA) – Social grant beneficiaries will continue to be paid as usual and on time, even beyond April 2017, and there will be no disruptions to the system, the South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA) said on Friday.
This comes after fears that the Department of Social Development would not be able to pay 17 million social grant beneficiaries when its contract with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) expires at the end of March.
The Constitutional Court recently set out guidelines that the department should be responsible for the pay-out of millions of rands to grant beneficiaries from 1 April and no longer rely on their service provider after it declared the contract invalid.
A Portfolio Committee set up to probe the progress the department was making in taking over the distribution of social grants had to be cancelled this week as Social Development Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, was abroad.
In a statement issued on behalf of SASSA, spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said the agency would be meeting with the committee soon.
“SASSA will present its plan on how social grants will be paid out, as from April 2017, to the Social Development Portfolio Committee,” Letsatsi said.
“This presentation to the committee will be made on the 1st February 2017 in Parliament and will clarify all perceived uncertainties that interested parties have expressed.”
Letsatsi said the agency had held consultations with various stakeholders to determine the best model and a solution in a bid to minimise potential unintended consequences.
“Social grant beneficiaries will continue to be paid as usual and on time, even beyond April 2017, and there will be no disruptions in the system. There is therefore no need to panic from the side of beneficiaries,” Letsatsi said.
“SASSA will ensure that their grants are received unencumbered as required by the Social Assistance Act. This is because some beneficiaries currently experience unauthorised deductions from unscrupulous operators within the financial services sector and it is therefore important that these are eliminated.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
