ANC CAUCUS WELCOMES CONCOURT JUDGMENT ON SOCIAL GRANT PAYMENTS

17 March 2017

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip welcomes the judgment of the Constitutional Court to extend the contract between South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA) and Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) to deliver social grant pay-outs for 12 months under strict conditions.

The Constitutional Court declared that SASSA and CPS are under a constitutional obligation to ensure payment of social grants from 1 April 2017 until an entity other than CPS is able to do so. We believe that this judgment gives SASSA working together with other state entities sufficient time to improve state capacity to deliver social grants. We are of the firm view that core service delivery functions of the state must be carried out by state institutions and not left to the private sector.

We are equally pleased with the judgment in relation to the protection of grant recipient information. This provision will ensure that social grant recipients who are often vulnerable to various forms of exploitation will be protected.

We reiterate our concern on how this matter was handled. As the ANC in parliament, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that those involved in this matter are held accountable for their actions or lack thereof. To quote Justice Froneman, “accountability is the central value of our democratic system.”

Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, 17 March 2017