EXCLUSIVE: Sassa will take ‘years, not months’ in social grants takeover
It would take the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) "years rather than months" to take over the distribution of social grants, according to a legal opinion Sassa obtained from Adv Wim Trengove SC. The 13-page document, which Business Day has seen, was commissioned on the basis of exploring the legal minefield Sassa would have to navigate if it were to extend Cash Paymaster Services’ (CPS’s) contract to distribute social grants. The Department of Social Development approached the senior advocate to advise it on the legality of extending the Net1-UEPS subsidiary’s contract. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Serge Belamant, CEO of Net 1-UEPS, is adamant his company will not continue to distribute the social grants under the existing contract after March 31.Sassa has less than two months to come up with a workable solution to ensure that monthly social grant payments totalling billions of rand are distributed seamlessly. The agency has indicated it would pet...
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