SASSA: MUDDLING THROUGH AS THE POOR WAIT
The last few days have witnessed a SASSA fiasco on an unprecedented scale. Outright lies, half-truths, resignation of key personnel and a fumbling, rumbling and grumbling Minister trying to save herself - and not the almost 17 million grant beneficiaries - was the order.
Wide media coverage delivering blow-by-blow accounts of the unfolding crisis has elicited outrage, yet President Zuma has the temerity to ask Ministers and their spokespersons to stop talking about social grants. In an interview from Jakarta, Indonesia, he said, “I think Ministers should stop talking, including their spokespersons. I think the point has been made. The less we talk, the better”.
He added in response to public outrage and a call for Minister Bathabile Dlamini to be sacked that, “there are people speaking as if the date has come and passed and that the Department has failed and the Minister has failed. But the date has not come”. President Zuma, unlike the almost 17 million grant beneficiaries, is assured of where his next meal will come from. He is assured - as is evidenced by the State Capture Report - of wealth accumulated for himself and his family, but a key voting bloc remains in limbo.
It would behove Cabinet to ask Minister Dlamini to unpack the spider’s web that the contract with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) has proven to be, with its parent company Net1 offering a range of financial services through a myriad of subsidiaries including Moneyline (loans), Manje Mobile (airtime and electricity), EasyPay Everywhere (smart cards) and SmartLife (insurance). Net1’s recent acquisition of a chunk of Cell C shares also positions it well in the cellphone starter pack market.
In response to criticism and litigation by the Black Sash, Corruption Watch, Freedom Under Law and the Democratic Alliance, Net1’s CEO Serge Belamant said that his company “lawfully market and provide financial products to grant beneficiaries in line with applicable financial regulations”. Belamant responded to concerns about data-sharing that CPS does not share the beneficiary data that it captures during beneficiary enrolment or received from SASSA with any third party - including NET1 subsidiaries.