Budget 2017
SOCIAL WELFARE: A bit more in grants — plus a scary delay
The social development department doesn’t appear to have made much progress to ensure that people who depend on social subsidies receive them from April. And national treasury has little to say on the matter
For those hoping for some indication of adult oversight of the controversial social grant tender, the budget was a grim disappointment. Perhaps understandably, given the political sensitivity attached to the issue, finance minister Pravin Gordhan brushed off the one SA Social Security Agency (Sassa)-related question at the press conference ahead of the budget. "We’ve little to say on that matter; we’ve engaged with Sassa and the social development department ... ultimately it is the department’s responsibility," the minister said. "We’re expecting them to go to the constitutional court at some point," he added. And then the very scary part: "There’s a process they’re following."
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