Dlamini says Parliament should call CPS to come and account

Minister of social development Bathabile Dlamini says Parliament should call Cash Paymaster Systems to answer any questions MPs have about the company's R1.1 billion profit and irregular deductions from grant recipients’ accounts.

Dlamini was in Parliament with the South African Social Security Agency for their weekly update on the payment of grants and the implementation of a new service provider‚ in line with the Constitutional Court ruling.

ANC MP Sibongile Tsoleli asked about the R1.1 billion profit that CPS had declared to the Constitutional Court. The court ruled in 2014 that CPS should not be allowed to profit from the irregular contract to pay out South Africa's 17 million social grants.

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SASSA CEO Thokozani Magwaza however said of the CPS profit: "We are not looking into it because we are not involved."

Tsoleli was not pleased with this response‚ saying SASSA needed to respond to all information around grants because its brand had "been tarnished by a lot of things".

Dlamini however said that as the Constitutional Court had declared CPS an arm of government because it fulfilled a crucial government function‚ the committee should call them.

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The IFP's Liezl van der Merwe had asked about the third party deductions for items like airtime‚ electricity and funeral cover which were being deducted from grant recipients accounts by CPS-linked companies and had wanted to know how many complaints had been received.

Dlamini said "it is important for the committee to get a full brief of the other monies that are subtle that you don't see in the whole thing because it’s not just the R16.44"‚ possibly referring to the deductions which she said had been a "bone of contention" with CPS.

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Earlier‚ committee chair Nokuzola Capa had indicated that they would look into the legal issues around calling CPS to account to Parliament.

Dlamini also said she had met with Justice Minister Michael Masutha to discuss her discomfort with a recent North Gauteng High Court judgment which ruled that third party deductions could go ahead.

Dlamini said the ruling contradicted the Constitutional Court order. Magwaza said they would be appealing the ruling.

The committee heard that 129‚550 disputes had been received from grants beneficiaries since 2015. Of these‚ 14‚802 were ATM disputes in which the bank card was swallowed or a slip had been received but no cash. The majority however were for airtime deductions (62‚109) and electricity (9‚691).

TMG Digital/TimesLIVE