ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS STATEMENT ON THE READINESS OF SASSA TO DISTRIBUTE SOCIAL GRANT PAYMENTS BY 1 APRIL 2017
1 February 2017
The Economic Freedom Fighters is appalled and dismayed by the ineptitude of the Department of Social Development and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), in the manner the Department and SASSA have handled the transitioning of the social grant payment system. The Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) was awarded the contract to distribute social grants in 2012, however, the decision to award the contract to CPS was challenged and in November 2013, the Constitutional Court ruled that the tender was invalid.
The Court further ordered in 2014 that the tender process be re-run‚ but with no disruption to grant payments in the meantime. This effectively meant that CPS would be responsible for the distribution of grants until a valid tender was awarded, or until the expiry of their contract with SASSA on 31 March 2017.
SASSA once again prevaricated until they were ordered by the Constitutional Court to award social grants payment tender by October 2015. SASSA then decided against awarding the tender, citing the incapacity of those who had submitted proposals. SASSA then made a commitment to the Constitutional Court, to Parliament and to the nation at large that they will take over the payment of social grants by themselves by the 1st of April 2017.
The EFF in parliament repeatedly asked the department of Social Development in 2016 if SASSA would be ready to take over the mammoth task of distributing grants to the more than 17 million social grant recipients by the 1st of April 2017, and we were always assured that this would be the case. As recent as November 2016, the Department of Social Development and SASSA were adamant that SASSA would be ready to take over the payment of grants.
We were therefore shocked to hear at the meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development today that SASSA and the department have no plan on the table, and are not ready to take over the payment of social grants from 01 April 2017. Rather, they want the Constitutional Court to grant them an order to further extend the contract that was illegally awarded to the CPS for another year.
They claimed that they will be approaching the Constitutional Court on the 8th of February, seeking permission to extend the CPS contract. Should the Constitutional Court refuse to grant this extension, the poorest of the poor, who depend on social grants for their livelihood, will be severely compromised, and we would have a debilitating crisis on our hands. SASSA and the department have no other plans to handle this possible eventuality.
We are also of the firm view that the decision to delay setting up processes within SASSA to pay for social grants was a carefully manipulated decision by the corrupt clique surrounding the leadership of the ANC to continue looting state resources. We know for a fact that there are senior ANC leaders with close ties to CPS who stand to benefit from the extension of the contract.
The EFF condemns the conduct of the Department and SASSA for their incompetence and their lack of sensitivity to the impending crisis which may affect millions of people. We also condemn the continuing defense of this sheer incompetence by ANC members of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development.
The minister responsible for social development should step down and allow capable people to politically oversee the in sourcing of the social grant payment system.
Government must not find it easy to defy instructions and rulings of the constitutional court because such will set a wrong precedent of lawlessness in South Africa.
Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, 1 February 2017
