Net1 CEO ‘not remotely concerned’ about court case over deductions
The case will take so long that profits will not suffer, and even a ruling against Net1 UEPS could benefit the company’s EasyPay system, Serge Belamant says
NET1 UEPS Technologies CEO Serge Belamant say he is not "remotely concerned" about the outcome of a court case that could stop deductions for services such as funeral insurance from state-funded grants to some of the country’s poorest people.Net1 has the contract to distribute R129bn in annual welfare payments. In May, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), which oversees the payment of welfare grants to more than 16-million people, amended its rules to prevent what it said were illegal deductions for goods and services directly from grants ranging from funeral insurance to mobile-phone airtime.Net1 has challenged the amendments in court and Belamant said the case, and resultant appeals, would take so long that it would not affect the company’s profitability.Black Sash Trust, an activist group, has filed a counter challenge demanding the government do more to protect grant recipients.While the court case would determine the meaning of the law surrounding deductions, "betw...
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