Agreement to suspend biometric system

strike action if its members at Sassa give the agreement the green light.

“As a matter of principle, we have asked technical people to craft that agreement into a draft settlement which we will be reporting to the members in terms of what has been agreed upon. Once members give us the go-ahead we will be signing it by tomorrow (today),” Saphetha said.

The technical errors of the system had subjected their members to disciplinary processes which had led to dismissals while affecting services to beneficiaries themselves, he said.

“There’s a high level of technical errors which point that beneficiaries are unable to get their money, the full amount, on time. They’re taken from pillar to post in relation to payment and registration. These are the problems that are detrimental to the rules that regulate how workers should work,” said Saphetha.

Although Socpen was vulnerable to fraud and had led to dismissals, the biometric system had also led to suspensions and threats of dismissals.

Saphetha said that when the biometric system for enrolment for Sassa staff and beneficiaries was introduced there was an agreement for the staff to undergo training, but only beneficiaries were told how it worked as opposed to staff.

On Monday, Sassa said the affected staff members had been provided with training to enable them to perform the function.

“It is also important to clarify that the biometric enrolment referred to is not a new function. This was previously done manually as part of the application process where ink was used and the beneficiary’s fingerprint put on paper,” said Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi.

Attempts to obtain confirmation from Sassa about the agreements reached yesterday were unsuccessful.