Johannesburg - Social grant beneficiaries should receive their payments in a convenient, safe and secure manner, said Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini on Wednesday.
“In order to address the challenges of poverty and inequality, our programmes must take on a transformative and developmental role,” she said in a statement.
She urged experts on social assistance models to help the country find a social grant payment model that could bring beneficiaries into the mainstream economy.
The local and international experts included the representatives from the European Union, World Bank and the International Social Security Association.
They had met the ministerial advisory committee in Centurion to share their expertise, she said.
“The committee was established to recommend the most feasible in-house future payments system for social security assistance.”
Dlamini said currently grants were paid by a service provider on a fixed contract ending in 2017.
“It is expected that from 2017 the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) will perform the function of paying out grants directly.”
She said there were a number of development issues that needed to be incorporated into the final model that would be used.
“Movement towards administration, management and payment of social assistance benefits by SASSA is a significant opportunity to improve services.”
Sapa