Dlamini cannot skip Constitutional Court
• Treasury obliged to inform Sassa to get top court’s consent on new grants deal with CPS
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini may have the terms of a new contract with Cash Payment Services (CPS) in the bag, but she will have no choice but to return to the Constitutional Court to regularise it.
Dlamini and acting CE of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) Vuyelwa Nhlapo have sought to put an end to the court’s oversight of Sassa. In a report lodged last Thursday, Nhlapo said that “it is no longer obliged to report to this court”.
Sassa and the department are expected to meet with the Treasury on Tuesday to discuss the terms of a new contract they have negotiated with CPS.
Acting chief procurement officer Schalk Human said the Treasury was obliged to inform Sassa that in order to regularise the new contract, it would have to get the permission of the court. Only after that would it consider consenting to a deviation to the tender process.
“The Constitutional Court gave two instructions: build your own capacity to pay grants, or follow a competitive process to appoint a new service provider. That has not been done and to go ahead without it would be contempt of court,” he said.
Even if Dlamini and Sassa fail to approach the court, the matter will nonetheless be heard on March 15 as advocacy group Black Sash has secured an urgent hearing to reinstate the court’s oversight role.
The Black Sash has asked the court to ensure beneficiaries receive their grants from April 1 and to ensure that the integrity of the social grant system is protected.
“It would seem that Parliament has failed the poorest and most vulnerable South Africans. We are now left with no option but to appeal to the highest court in the land,” it said in a statement on Monday.
Beneficiaries required protection from “harmful practices, by amongst others, CPS,” it said in its application.
The DA has also approached the court seeking to be joined as an applicant in the matter.
The party has asked the court for a declaratory order confirming that Dlamini, the Sassa CE and the agency itself had violated their duties in terms of the
Constitution. The DA also wants the court to find that the minister had violated her oath of office.
Next week’s hearing will be the next decisive moment in the Sassa grant payment saga and could likely place limitations on its contractual agreements with CPS.
Net1 UEPS, which is the parent company of CPS, and Sassa had last week agreed to terms of a new two-year contract, CE Serge Belamant told Business Day on Sunday. The terms of the contract have not been disclosed, but do include an escalation in price based on the consumer price index.
The two-year duration of the new contract is likely to be controversial when it comes under review by the court and the Treasury.
While the court and the Treasury will likely be compelled to enter into the contract, despite its unlawfulness, they may want to shorten the duration and insist on a fresh process.
Dlamini on Sunday disputed that a competitive process had not been followed to find a new service provider.
She said Sassa had started the tender process to find a replacement for CPS in October 2015. However, the tender was not awarded due to nonresponsive bids.
On Monday, Dlamini held a public event to address grant beneficiaries at the Cape Sun hotel, where she chided the media, who she had clashed with at a media briefing the previous day.
“Yesterday was very sad. We had black journalists who were very concerned and knew people personally who would be affected if they did not get their grants. And there were other journalists who came with a different agenda,” Dlamini said.
“We are pleading with you here not to remain confused, but to take the message forward that on the first of April, we are all going to receive our grants,” she said.
Dlamini has been asked to appear before Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts on Tuesday.
However, she would not say if she would make herself available.