Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini asked Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, to rein in "onerous" requests by a committee overseeing the South African Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) efforts to end a contract with Net1 UEPS Technologies to distribute social grants.
In a letter to Mbete on September 4, Dlamini said that efforts to find a new payment system were at a "sensitive" stage and that Sassa needs to finish its work "without compromise or perceived undue influence".
She complained that the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) and the portfolio committee overlapped and constantly requested appearances by Sassa officials.
"I write to express my concern and seek your intervention in the manner in which Scopa is increasingly over-stepping the boundaries of its mandate with regard to [Sassa’s work]," Dlamini wrote. "We are concerned about the onerous reporting requirements placed on Sassa officials who are called to appear almost every week."
The agency, which oversees more than $11bn in annual social grants to more than 17-million recipients, has been the subject of concern since it failed to comply with a 2014 order to find a new welfare distributor.
In March, the Constitutional Court allowed a 12-month extension to the contract with Net1’s Cash Paymaster Services, after earlier finding the deal was invalid and needed to be replaced. The Court also ordered Dlamini and Sassa to comply with various oversight processes including that they file reports every three months setting out how they plan to ensure the successful payment of welfare grants under a different service provider by April 1 2018. The next report is due to be filed on September 15.
Bloomberg
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