Black Sash roasts Dlamini over grants
The human rights organisation has asked the constitutional court to reinstate its oversight role over social grant distribution
With less than a month left before the contract to distribute social grants to 17m South Africans runs out, the Black Sash has petitioned the constitutional court to urgently intervene in the mess. It’s a disaster that has shown up rank incompetence on the part of social development minister Bathabile Dlamini, who also chairs the ANC Women’s League. Three years ago, Dlamini and the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) were ordered to run a new tender for the distribution of grants as the previous award to Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) was declared “invalid” by the court. But they sat on their hands. Now, three years later, the five-year contract with CPS is due to expire on March 31, and Dlamini’s department has made no plans on how to distribute grants thereafter. The Black Sash, whose clients include tens of thousands of grant recipients, says, given the shambolic handling of the matter, the court should take an immediate “supervisory role” over both Dlamini and Sassa. Lynette Maart,...
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