The fallout from the PostBank’s mishandling of welfare grant payments that left thousands of pensioners stranded without money for a week is expected to continue. The department of social development has blamed a technical glitch for the debacle.
The saga highlights how irregular contracts, without tenders but not necessarily corrupt, can lead to audits with disclaimers and negative consequences for those involved. This is something that has been raised as problematic by Transnet and Eskom.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that by last Thursday, the Postbank had completed 500,000 out of 600,000 payments to grant beneficiaries.
The debacle between Postbank and Sassa occurred amid the fallout between the minister of communications & technologies, Mondli Gungubele, and the former board members of Postbank. Most of the Postbank board members quit on Tuesday night, days before Gungubele said he was going to fire them.
The Postbank, which has positioned itself to become a state bank, is now without a board. Gungubele on Thursday appointed Khayalethu Ngema as the bank’s administrator while in search for new board members.
Opposition party the DA says it will on Tuesday lodge a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) Johannesburg office and request an investigation into Sassa’s continuous failure to pay social grant beneficiaries on time.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will this week participate in the UN general assembly in New York that draws heads of state and government worldwide. Ramaphosa is scheduled to deliver SA’s message on Tuesday. The president’s programme will also include several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the assembly, says presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.
The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), the highest decision-making body between conferences, is expected to begin a four-day strategy meeting on Thursday where issues regarding the economy, electricity and next year’s elections are expected to be discussed.
In parliament this week deputy president Paul Mashatile and ministers in the economic cluster will be fielding questions from MPs in the National Assembly. Mashatile will answer questions from the house on Friday in line with section 92 (2), which requires members of the executive to be accountable collectively and individually to parliament for the exercise of the powers and the performance of their functions.
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana will be among the economic cluster of ministers who will answer questions from MPs on Wednesday.
Godongwana is expected to answer questions on the National Treasury’s proposed cost-cutting measures before November’s medium-term budget policy statement and the continued deterioration of municipal finances and its impact on SA’s overall fiscal position.
Minister for electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is expected to answer questions on the energy deal between SA and Mozambique in terms of which Maputo could provide Pretoria with 100MW of power and the progress made regarding the implementation of Eskom’s implementation of the Plant and Recovery Plan.
On Tuesday the National Assembly is scheduled to consider the portfolio committee on home affairs’ report on the candidate nominated to fill a vacancy in the Electoral Commission.
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