Share

Dlamini to work with Post Office on Sassa grants

Johannesburg - Social Development Bathabile Dlamini, who oversees more than $11bn in annual welfare payments, said she is committed to working with the state-owned post office, easing concern that the planned partnership would be scrapped after she ousted the chief executive officer of the social security agency.

Dlamini told staff on Tuesday that the ANC had instructed her to work with the South African Post Office, and she will comply, according to an audio recording of the meeting heard by Bloomberg.

“The African National Congress has taken a decision that the post office must have a role,” she said. “I, as the political appointee and the deployee of the African National Congress, have always ensured that the post office is not out of the picture. This is the policy of my organisation and there is no way that I am going to renege on that position.”

A potential partnership with the post office, which would replace Net1 UEPS Technologies as the distributor of welfare to about 17 million people was thrown into doubt when Dlamini said Thokozani Magwaza agreed to leave his post earlier this week as CEO of the South African Social Security Agency.

Within mandate

Work done by Magwaza that is in line with “the mandate of the organization that has deployed me here, it is going to be implemented”, Dlamini said.

Magwaza and Dlamini contradicted each other in affidavits to the Constitutional Court earlier this year in a case where the court allowed a contract with Net1, which it had ruled invalid in 2014, to be extended for a year. Sassa had failed to comply with the 2014 order to find a new distributor and the court has said Net1 must be replaced when the contract expires in 2018. Magwaza told a parliamentary committee that he had received death threats.

Magwaza said in a July 11 interview that he had scrapped advisory groups set up by the minister to plan for how welfare would be distributed in future. Those groups reported directly to the minister, effectively creating parallel structures to the agency’s management. He said he had informed the minister but hadn’t received a response. He also said Sassa would work with the Post Office to help distribute welfare grants.

“We got a letter from Sassa on Friday to work collaboratively to pay grants,” Post Office CEO Mark Barnes said by phone. “The process now is to get to it.”

Calls to Sassa weren’t answered, while the social development ministry asked for emailed questions.

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE UPDATE: Get Fin24's top morning business news and opinions in your inbox.

Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter:

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.96
-0.1%
Rand - Pound
24.04
+0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.55
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.6%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.8%
Platinum
900.98
-0.2%
Palladium
1,000.76
-0.5%
Gold
2,155.89
-0.2%
Silver
24.95
-0.4%
Brent Crude
86.89
+1.8%
Top 40
65,751
-0.8%
All Share
71,995
-0.6%
Resource 10
53,013
-0.6%
Industrial 25
99,381
-1.1%
Financial 15
16,605
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders