Johannesburg - The empire of Gauteng loan sharks who were stealing from poor pensioners has been brought to an end by Social Development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza.
On Thursday, Mayathula-Khoza told the people of Gauteng, particularly the pensioners, that loan sharks would no longer be allowed to make deductions from their grants because it was illegal.
She made the announcement while delivering her R4.2 billion budget in the legislature. The decision to block the unscrupulous acts of loan sharks coincided with a landmark settlement in the Constitutional Court, which endorsed that it was illegal to make deductions for funeral policy from child-grant recipients.
The court’s order followed an out-of-court settlement reached between Lion of Africa and South African Social Security Agency (Sassa).
According to the settlement, Sassa would not be allowed to continue to implement a law prohibiting any financial institution or insurance companies from making any funeral policy deductions from children’s grants.
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini described the Concourt’s judgment as a “victory for children receiving social grants”.
In Gauteng, Mayathula-Khoza brought joy to the aged who have for a number of years complained about deductions such as airtime from their pensions - most saying without their knowledge.
“Older persons were excited to hear we’re stopping illegal deductions from people’s social grants,” she said.
The Star