The Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, welcomed the decision by the Constitutional Court that "there must be no disruption to the payment of existing social grants to beneficiaries".
Though the Court has ruled that there must be a new tender process, it continued to emphasise the importance of the role played by social grants in the lives of the South African poor and recognised that the decision on the proposed final solution finally lied with the South African Social Assistance Agency (Sassa).
Sassa has been in a protracted legal battle with Allpay, a subsidiary of Absa, after the tender to pay social grants was awarded to Cash Paymaster Services in 2012.
The tender - one of the largest in South Africa's history was for the provision of social grants to approximately 15 million beneficiaries, of which 11 million are children.
"This is a judgement that is on the side of the poor. The understanding and the emphasis by the highest court of the land is that there should be no disruptions in the disbursement of social grants is of utmost importance to the department.
It shows that the courts understand the role social grants play in the lives of vulnerable groups. There is an advisory committee already appointed to investigate and recommend to the department the best model for Sassa to take over the payment of social grants in 2017," said Minister Dlamini.
The court ordered Allpay to pay Sassa and Cash Paymaster Services costs in relation to the application, brought in the main application on the merits, to lead further evidence.
For further information contact:
Ms Lumka Oliphant
Cell: 083 484 8067
E-mail: LumkaO@dsd.gov.za
