Guards for Sassa officials
DA says bosses must pay for own R1.4m security
Death threats to the SA Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) KwaZulu-Natal regional executive Pearl Bengu and manager Darius Nysschens costs taxpayers over R1.4-million a year for four bodyguards and two security cars.
The two will continue to receive security until the threats have stopped, according to Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini’s parliamentary reply to DA MP Michael Bagraim.
The threats include those made by staff mostly subjected to disciplinary hearings for fraud and agents defrauding the grants payment system.
Dlamini said Bengu and Nysschens received death threats and Sassa’s former chief executive Virginia Petersen was given the risk analysis reports that formed the basis of the decision to provide the two managers with protection.
The risk analysis was done in June 2014 and the security costs nearly R120 000 a month.
According to Dlamini, the security is provided on an ad-hoc basis and is funded through Sassa’s security budget, of which about R182-million was spent in 2015/2016 financial year.
But Bagraim said the officials were no different to any other citizen and should approach the police if they felt unsafe.
“They should pay for their own security. Anyone can say they feel unsafe and demand security. It’s completely unsustainable,” he said.
Sassa’s current chief executive Thokozani Magwaza did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.
In the 2015/2016 financial year, the agency incurred R414-million in irregular expenditure for extending physical security contracts for its Pretoria head office and nine regional branches.
According to Sassa, the contracts were initially for a period of six months but were extended a number of times due to bids viewed by National Treasury as unacceptable and which declared the extensions irregular.
Sassa said National Treasury has not provided substantiating facts, and wants the decision reviewed.