Freedom Under Law asks ConCourt to extend CPS contract by a year
Freedom Under Law (FUL) has asked the Constitutional Court to extend the existing contract by Cash Paymaster Service (CPS) by a year.
Arguing on behalf of FUL which has asked the court to join in the application brought by Black Sash‚ David Unterhalter SC said CPS has a constitutional obligation to carry out its duty of distributing social grants‚even after the contract it has with the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) expires.
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"There is an ongoing obligation that CPS has to render services and it is required to carry out its obligation even after the dissolution of the contract."
Unterhalter argued that CPS cannot simply walk away from its obligation‚ but that the court should exercise a supervisory jurisdiction to ensure that the company carries its duties within the ambit of the law.
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"CPS has no right to benefit from the discharge of its obligation. It may not profit as a result of an unlawful contract."
Untehalter said to avoid a situation where social grants beneficiaries are not paid by April 1‚the court should extend the existing contract with CPS for a year.
According to Unterhalter‚extending the existing contract is justified as Sassa has no capacity to take over the payment of social grants and that there is currently no proper procurement of services in place.
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"The[extension] period must be sufficient for Sassa and the minister [of social development] to hold a proper tender process.
"It doesn't make sense to make a short contract otherwise we will be back here. [A period of ] 12 months is a plausible period within which legality can be restored."
Unterhalter said during the extension CPS and Sassa should be made to account on how the contract has been carried out.
Black Sash‚ the main applicants in the matter want the court to supervise any deal Sassa makes to ensure the payment of grants.
- TMG Digital