Sassa fallout 'could be more catastrophic than we can imagine', says Mogoeng

The Black Sash Trust has urged the Constitutional Court to exercise its supervisory jurisdiction to ensure that the payment of social grants to about 17 million recipients is done lawfully from April 1.

The Black Sash made this submission in its application before the court on Wednesday in light of uncertainty about how the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) is going to pay the grants after the unlawful contract it had with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) expires on March 31.

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng wanted to find out from Black Sash whether the organisation wanted the court to extend the life of the contract that the court declared invalid a few years ago.

• DA stages a sit-in outside ConCourt in support of Sassa applicationA group of Democratic Alliance supporters staged a protest outside the Constitutional Court on Wednesday in support of NGO Black Sash’s application to the court. 

Mogoeng said there seemed to be two choices available to the court.

One would be that the court ordered Sassa to conclude a new agreement‚ with any party‚ intended to ensure that there was continuity with the payment of grants‚ at the the risk that parties would not agree to the terms.

“The consequences could be more catastrophic than we have the capacity to imagine‚” Mogoeng said.

• Social grants fiasco ‘cries out for a proper investigation’ – Corruption WatchCorruption Watch says there are numerous corruption red flags that need to be investigated in the spiralling social grants debacle. 

Mogoeng said the other option was‚ assuming the court had the power‚ to extend the pre-existing illegal contract in the same way as the court did after declaring it invalid.

“Which of the two options is viable‚ which of them is constitutionally viable?” Mogoeng asked.