Constitutional Court justices on Tuesday were frustrated with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) for once again approaching them at the last minute to try avoid a social grants crisis. Sassa has approached the court in a bid to have its unlawful contract with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) extended for a further six months. The application was lodged in February, a little more than a month before the deadline for Sassa to end its relationship with CPS. Sassa has argued that the extension is needed in order to cater for cash payments of social grants to 2.5-million beneficiaries. The South African Post Office will take over the payment of social grants once the CPS contract ends, but has said it needs time to phase in services to take over the payments. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng asked advocate Nazeem Cassim, for Sassa, when the agency had realised it would need to extend the CPS contract, to which he replied, on December 8 2017. However, he said Sassa at the time was...
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