Sassa messed up – CPS
PAYMASTER TELLS COURT SOCIAL GRANTS AGENCY TO BLAME FOR IRREGULARITIES CALLS FOR BATHABILE TO BE HELD PERSONALLY LIABLE FOR CRISIS
SERGE Belamant, chief executive of social grants distributor Cash Paymaster Services’ parent company, Net1, has blamed the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) for irregularities in the proposed extension of the multi-billion rand tender.
In his affidavit filed at the Constitutional Court in response to Black Sash’s bid to ask the country’s highest court to supervise social grants payments after March 31, Belamant insists that CPS is innocent and its reputation is compromised when it is required to conduct business under contracts that have been declared invalid or have been concluded in circumstances that require deviations from prescribed procurement procedures.
Belamant said CPS “is anxious to avoid becoming embroiled in further protracted and costly legal battles as a result of irregularities that are entirely of Sassa’s making”.
While CPS is not opposing Black Sash’s court case, Belamant said the lobby group was seeking unlawful and incompetent demands by asking the apex court to order that the personal information of social grants beneficiaries is Sassa’s property.
According to Belamant, granting such an order would be in contravention of the Protection of Personal Information Act.
Net1, its subsidiary Smart Life Insurance, Finbond Mutual Bank and Information Technology Consultants want the social assistance regulations that bar deductions of more than 10% of the value of a grant declared unlawful.
The cases were heard in October and judgment is pending.
The regulations also do not allow deductions from child support grants, foster child care grants, care dependancy grants awarded for a period not exceeding twelve months.
Corruption Watch has approached the North Gauteng High Court to review and set aside Sassa’s decision to pay an extra R317-million to CPS for re-registration of beneficiaries despite this being one of the contract’s requirements.
Belamant also told the court that: “It bears to mention that CPS elected not to bid for the new tender issued by Sassa in 2015 and had planned to terminate its services as soon as the new service provider was ready to take over.”
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has given Bathabile Dlamini and Sassa until Monday to indicate whether a new contract has been signed with CPS.