SA’s history makes a strong case for social security. It is needed to stabilise a country wrecked by apartheid’s unjust and oppressive social policies. Section 27 of the Constitution provides that everyone has the right to social security, including appropriate social assistance if they are unable to support themselves and their dependants. With this constitutional undertaking, SA committed itself to an ethical duty to give everyone, not just citizens, special protections. The social grant crisis is a reminder of the real-life effect that procurement law has on society’s most vulnerable. When matters such as these arise, we as procurement lawyers have to remind ourselves that it is not just about the contracts, statistics and numbers; ultimately, we are talking about the survival of our most vulnerable members of society. In the case of AllPay Consolidated Investment Holdings and Others versus the CEO of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and Others, the Constitutional...

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