SASSA must appeared urgently before Parliament on new Social Grant system
14 November 2016
The DA will today write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, Ms Rosemary Capa, to request that she urgently re-schedule the appearance of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to report on its readiness to take over the payment of social grants next year.
SASSA was meant to appear before the committee on 16 November, but their appearance was cancelled, as key SASSA officials will be in Panama for a conference.
Given that the current contractor’s term comes to an end on 1 April next year, it is vital that SASSA accounts to the Committee on what plans are in place to ensure the efficient hand-over of the distribution of social grants, which involves R10 billion and could affect 17 million recipients.
The cancellation of the appearance seems to be yet another tactic by both the Department of Social Development and SASSA to avoid answering critical questions about its arrangements to make payments to our country’s poorest citizens.