Gordhan heads to committee over social grants uncertainty
The social grants debacle will continue to dominate the headlines this week as uncertainty continues over the distribution of grants from April.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is due to appear before Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts on Tuesday to explain the Treasury’s stance on the payment of social grants by Cash Paymaster Services (CPS).
The minister’s appearance before the committee follows that of embattled Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini last week.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has not yet developed a system to pay the grants to 17-million beneficiaries and has been negotiating with CPS — its current service provider — to continue distributing the grants.
While Sassa’s contract with CPS was declared invalid and unlawful by the Constitutional Court, the agency has said it would have to renew the CPS deal because there was no viable alternative. The contract expires on March 31.
The court has requested data from the department and Sassa in the case brought by the Black Sash, which has asked for independent oversight of both the contract and the preparation by Sassa for the takeover of grant payments in two years’ time. The Constitutional Court will hear the matter on Wednesday.
Also this week, the portfolio committee on energy will be briefed by the Department of Energy and the PetroSA board about a forensic report on PetroSA impairment and its turnaround strategy.
On Tuesday, the transport portfolio committee will meet to discuss and establish the terms of reference and scope of its inquiry into the governance challenges at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA. The board was dissolved last week by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters.
On Tuesday the communications portfolio committee will adopt the report recommending candidates for appointment to the SABC interim board. The portfolio committee agreed on the list of five members last week.
The final list will be forwarded to the National Assembly for adoption.
The interim board will be made up of former board member Krish Naidoo; media veterans Mathatha Tsedu and John Matisonn; Febe PotgieterGqubule, who was until recently the deputy chief of staff for former AU Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma; and business executive and former CEO of Business Unity SA Khanyisile Kweyama. The interim board, which will be in place for six months, will be tasked with appointing a CEO, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.