Sassa, Sapo reach grants deal
Spazas and banks to pay recipients
In with the new‚ out with the old. The SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) and the SA Post Office (Sapo) have reached a landmark agreement to usher in a new social grant payment system that will see recipients getting their grants from banks‚ various merchants and spaza shops.
The agreement was finalised on November 17 and the services agreement was entered into on Tuesday – just in time for submission to the Constitutional Court on Friday.
The contract Sassa has with Cash Paymaster Services was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court but the court extended its validity to April 1 2018. The new system‚ the Hybrid Model‚ will kick in on April 1.
Unveiling the plan in Pretoria yesterday‚ Minister in the Presidency responsible for monitoring and evaluation‚ Jeff Radebe‚ said this agreement gave effect to the implementation of the phasing in of Sapo and the Postbank as a service provider and also one of the key channels through which grants will be paid.
He said the implementation of the new plan made provision for four key channels through which beneficiaries across the country will receive their grants:
Payments through bank accounts
● of beneficiaries’ choice with commercial banks;
Payment through merchants
● in large retail shops;
Payments through the Postbank
● of Sapo at its outlets; and
Payments through a second ● tier of merchants which include village banks‚ general dealers‚ small retail outlets‚ Spaza shops‚ cooperatives which are registered, SAowned and operated.
“This will be done essentially through the insourcing of grants payments in a phased way. One of the primary objectives of this phasing is to fundamentally reduce payments for security‚ efficiency and cost-saving‚” he said.
Some of key points about hybrid model:
For the about two million
● beneficiaries who receive their grants through bank accounts‚ Sassa has received details of their bank accounts and from January 1 2018 the grants will be paid directly into these accounts by Sassa;
Sassa is in talks with banks ● for the establishment of a low-cost bank account.