Grants will be paid on April 3, says Dlamini

SOCIAL Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini has moved to reassure beneficiaries that social grants will definitely be paid – but on April 3, instead of April 1.

“All is on track for the payment of grants‚” the Department of Social Development said in a statement.

“Payments are set to be made on Monday April 3 at all of the traditional pay points including merchants‚ points of sale and banks‚ and the national police commissioner has been requested to increase police visibility on that day.”

When the first of the month falls on a weekend‚ grant payments are usually shifted to the first working day of the month. To avoid confusion‚ the department warned its pay points would not be open on April 1.

Beneficiaries endured weeks of uncertainty over whether they would be paid grants‚ since the contract with distribution company Cash Paymaster Services was supposed to end on March 31.

All eyes in the coming week will be on whether Dlamini meets a deadline of her own.

She was ordered to submit an affidavit by the end of the month‚ explaining why she should not pay from her own pocket the costs of litigation incurred by NGOs the Black Sash and Freedom Under Law in the Constitutional Court to resolve the social grants payment crisis.

Spokesman Lumka Oliphant said the minister would comply with the order.