TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Fixing SA’s power crisis is not complex: it simply takes the will to do better

      12 August 2022

      Consortium makes unsolicited bid for state’s 40% stake in Telkom

      12 August 2022

      Actually, solar users should pay more to access the grid – here’s why

      12 August 2022

      Telkom says MTN talks remain on track

      12 August 2022

      Analysis | Rain muddies the waters with approach to Telkom

      11 August 2022
    • World

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022

      Huawei just booked its first sales rise since US blacklisting

      12 August 2022

      Apple remains upbeat about iPhone sales even as Android world suffers

      12 August 2022

      Ether at two-month high as upgrade to blockchain passes major test

      12 August 2022

      Gaming industry’s fortunes fade as pandemic ends

      11 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»Blame me for welfare mess, minister says

    Blame me for welfare mess, minister says

    News By Agency Staff4 March 2017
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Social services minister Bathabile Dlamini

    Social development minister Bathabile Dlamini said she took responsibility for the failure of the country’s welfare department to comply with a ruling by the nation’s top court.

    The constitutional court in 2013 said a contract between the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and Net1 UEPS Technologies was invalid and a tender should be held to secure a new service provider to make welfare payments to more than 17m people. The Net1 contract expires this month and no alternative arrangements have been made, threatening to interrupt a programme that pays more than R140bn/year to South Africa’s poorest people.

    “The minister and Sassa accept responsibility for Sassa’s inability to deliver” on pledges it made to the court, the agency said in court documents seen by Bloomberg.

    The payments are a signature policy of the ruling ANC, which says the grants are an important measure to reduce inequality in the nation almost 23 years after the end of white-minority rule. In previous election campaigns, its officials have told rallies that if another party came to power, the payments may end.

    Adding to the confusion, Sassa said in the court papers that its CEO, Thokozani Magwaza, earlier this week applied to the court for permission to negotiate an extension of the Net1 contract without the minister’s permission. That case was withdrawn the day after it was filed. Calls to Magwaza’s mobile phone went straight to voicemail.

    In the court papers, the agency said it received advice that it no longer needed to report to the court. It also said a pledge to take over the distribution of payments itself this year had been overly ambitious and could take as long as five years.

    Sassa is in talks to conclude a new contract with Net1, against the advice of the country’s finance ministry which, along with the country’s central bank and the national Post Office, has proposed alternatives to using Net1.

    Earlier this week, the Black Sash Trust human rights group filed a case with the constitutional court demanding that any contract between Sassa and Net1 have the court’s oversight and that Dlamini report to the court regularly.

    The Democratic Alliance on Friday joined that case.

    “In the circumstances relating to the payment of social grants, there has been abject failure by senior government officials and senior members of the executive, including at least one cabinet member, to satisfy the basic constitutional and legal principles,” the DA said in court papers. Dlamini “failed to show any leadership at all, let alone concern regarding Sassa’s true state of affairs”.  — (c) 2017 Bloomberg LP

    Bathabile Dlamini Net1 Net1 UEPS Technologies Sassa Thokozani Magwaza
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleANC raises prospect of Eskom break-up
    Next Article Zuma orders welfare grants be paid

    Related Posts

    Fixing SA’s power crisis is not complex: it simply takes the will to do better

    12 August 2022

    Consortium makes unsolicited bid for state’s 40% stake in Telkom

    12 August 2022

    Actually, solar users should pay more to access the grid – here’s why

    12 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Get your brand in front of TechCentral’s amazing audience

    12 August 2022

    Pricing Beyond CMYK: printers answer the FAQs

    11 August 2022

    How secure is your cloud?

    10 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.