Post Office CEO ‘not clear’ on Sassa’s point
• Sapo will comment on letter on establishing its meaning after top court’s panel releases scathing report on social-grants agency
South African Post Office (Sapo) CEO Mark Barnes said it was “not clear” what the letter sent to Sapo late on Wednesday by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) meant. On Thursday, Barnes said he would comment on the letter as soon as Sapo was able to establish its meaning. In a statement released on Thursday morning, Sassa said it had given Sapo an offer and reasonable time to respond. Sassa said it had conducted a due diligence on Sapo.
South African Post Office (Sapo) CEO Mark Barnes said it was “not clear” what the letter sent to the Post Office late on Wednesday by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) meant.
On Thursday, Barnes said he would comment on the letter as soon as Sapo was able to establish its meaning.
In a statement released on Thursday morning, Sassa said it had given Sapo an offer and reasonable time to respond. Sassa said it had conducted a due diligence on Sapo.
“Sassa has been hard at work under the leadership of the Department of Social Development and [the minister] in trying to find the best solution for the payment of social grants,” the statement said.
The letter to Sapo was sent after the release of a damning report by the panel of experts appointed by the Constitutional Court to interrogate Sassa’s ability to ensure social grants would be paid after March 31 2018 when the extended contract with Net1 subsidiary Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) expires.
The panel’s report painted a picture of an organisation totally unprepared for the April 1 deadline. “There is virtually no likelihood of Sassa appointing service provider(s) in time to allow the issuance of new Sassa cards and the implementation of a new beneficiary enrolment system and cash distribution pay points by April 1 2018,” according to the report.
It said the Sassa executive committee did not appreciate the scope of activities required to ensure a successful and seamless transition to a new service provider.
The committee also seemed to be unaware of the several factors that could cause delays, in addition to those caused by Sassa itself.
So inept was Sassa’s handling of the project that it had not even devised a contingency plan, the report said.
“Upon questioning by the panel, Sassa was unable to present an alternative plan in the event that the current proposed course of action is for whatever reason derailed, or fails to be implemented within the remaining time.”
The panel speculated that Sassa would continue to use CPS, which it suggested enjoys an inappropriate level of influence over Sassa. “CPS owns the infrastructure and technology used in the payment of social grants, used primarily in rural areas, and would probably attempt to lease or license this to a new service provider,” the report said.
The panel also referred to the possibility that Net1 would set up a new company that “together with black economic partners could submit a bid should a new RFP [request for proposal] be issued for the services which Sapo cannot provide”. This is a plan alluded to by former Net1 CEO Serge Belamant during a results’ presentation earlier in 2017.
The panel recommended to the Constitutional Court that a project management office be appointed on an urgent basis.
Sassa’s letter to Sapo appears to have been prompted by the panel’s criticism about the lack of clarity around Sassa’s engagement with Sapo.