JOHANNESBURG - The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) says beneficiaries can expect social grants payments from April 1 following another extension of Net1's Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) contract by the Constitutional Court.
''All our systems are ready, beneficiaries are assured that they will receive their social grants come April, without any disruptions. Social grant payments will commence on 1 April 2018, whether or not the 1st falls on a weekend or public holiday. The bank payments and Sassa card payments which are accessed through ATM’s and merchants, will be made on 1st April 2018. Payment at Sassa cash pay points will start on the 3 April,'' Sassa said in a statement.
Sassa, which is an agency of the Department of Social Development, filed an urgent application for the CPS contract extension earlier this year, arguing it needed CPS services to dispense grants as the agency is not ready to take over social grant payments. The court declared the CPS contract invalid in 2014.
The court lambasted Sassa for requesting an extension, with Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng slamming Sassa for ''continuing to perpetuate unlawfulness'' and turning the highest court in the land into a laughing stock.
The court had no choice but to extend the CPS contract again to ensure grant payments.
In a separate case last week, the North Gauteng High Court ordered CPS to pay back over R300 million received in 2014 from Sassa, with interest. Judge Moroa Tsoka ruled that the payment, received for payment and registration of beneficiaries, was unlawful and irrational.
The case was brought by non-profit organisation Corruption Watch.