Dlamini angers MPs, Scopa accuses minister of dodging questions about CPS’s BEE compliance

08 March 2017 - 08:37 By BIANCA CAPAZORIO
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Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.
Image: RUVAN BOSHOFF

Parliament's standing committee on public accounts wants Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini to explain why a white-owned company is being contracted to make social grant payments.

Dlamini was summoned to appear before Scopa yesterday to explain how her department had found itself in what committee chairman Themba Godi called "this emergency".

Dlamini arrived late for the meeting and then raised heckles by wanting to leave early to attend a cabinet meeting - before MPs could question her. She butted heads with opposition MPs, who said she was dodging the issue.

She told MPs that the grants issue was "very important" and she did not want South Africans "thinking that I am arrogant".

  • 'Tell us what the deal is with SASSA and CPS' - Freedom Under Law asks to join court actionA not-for-profit legal group is asking to intervene in the application by the Black Sash around the arrangements between the South African Social Services Agency (SASSA) and Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) for the payment of social grants after 31 March 2017.

She gave several reassurances that grants would be paid on time when the current contract with Cash Paymaster Services ends on March 31. But MPs across all party lines were concerned that the renegotiation of the contract with CPS - at the 11th hour - did not take into consideration the company's BEE status, especially in light of her own comments to the committee that she wanted grant money to "go where the people are" and ensure that it went to developing communities rather than "big retailers", where it is currently spent.

IFP MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa asked if the company was BEE compliant, given it was "a white, American-owned" company.

Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (EFF) said: "CPS is not BEE-compliant; why negotiate with them if you believe in radical economic transformation?"

He said black people were relegated to doing "gardens and small deals".

  • MPs grill Dlamini on company paying social grantsParliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) wants Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini to explain why a white-owned company has been contracted to make social grant payments in the wake of President Jacob Zuma's call for radical economic transformation in his State of the Nation address.

ANC MP Nyami Booi raised questions about the BEE partners given that President Jacob Zuma had focused his State of the Nation speech on "radical economic transformation".

"These guys are getting richer than us [South Africans]. They may be a private company but it is government revenue that is assisting them."

Dlamini said all matters regarding CPS's BEE compliance had been dealt with in the Constitutional Court. She sidestepped questions about what the new CPS contract would cost, saying negotiations were still under way.

But talks between officials from her department and the SA Social Security Agency have ended without a deal being struck.

  • Letters reveal Sassa warned months ago about looming social grants crisisAn exchange of letters reveals that Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) urged the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) almost a year ago to avoid several pitfalls that could lead to a social grants crisis.

There are about 17million grant recipients but Dlamini said that, in some instances, several grants are paid into one account, bringing the number of payments down to 11million.

She said the department would remain within its budget because the Treasury had said that there were no additional funds available.

- TMG Digital/The Times

 

SASSA WARNED MANY TIMES

Andre Jurgens

An exchange of letters reveals that Cash Paymaster Services urged the SA Social Security Agency almost a year ago to avoid several pitfalls that could lead to a social grants crisis.

CPS warned that there needed to be a smooth transition when its contract ended to ensure that more than 17million social grant recipients in South Africa continued getting their money on April 1 2017.

The correspondence is attached to an affidavit submitted to the Constitutional Court by Net1 boss Serge Belamant. His company, CPS, is at the centre of the pension grants crisis.

  • ‘I don’t want SA to think I am arrogant’ – Dlamini tells ScopaMinister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini has defended her handling of the social grants programme.

The repeated warnings did not appear to spur Sassa into action. The parties agreed to meet only on March 1 2017 - exactly a month before the CPS contract ends.

Belamant wrote to the executive manager of special projects at Sassa on May 24 2016, saying it would take more than a year to replace social grant cards and emphasised that timing was important and would not result in payment disruptions.

CPS reminded Sassa on December 9 2016 that it had told parliament that the department would be ready to pay social grants by April 1 2017. It proposed a temporary solution to update the cards.

Sassa replied on December 22 2016 that it was in a position to engage CPS.

On February 9 2017 Sassa asked for "an exploratory meeting" with CPS, which replied, asking for dates.

  • Sassa: Dlamini makes long-awaited appearance before ScopaSocial development minister Bathabile Dlamini made a long-awaited appearance before parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday.

Belamant wrote to Sassa CEO Thokozani Magwaza on February 16 2017, saying that CPS had "not received any formal notification" about the meeting date.

Magwaza replied on February 21 2017: "We have been preoccupied with other equally pressing matters . Now that those have been cleared the Sassa team .is ready for discussions."

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