Social grants

Bathabile bunks Parly meetings

The spectre of the social grants controversy looms large over Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, who has been missing more often than not from Parliament’s committee meetings this year – in sharp contrast to her relatively better attendance record last year. Since the reopening of Parliament in January, Dlamini and[…]

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All on track for Sassa grant payouts: Dlamini

Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini says all is on track to ensure that 17 million beneficiaries receive their social grants next week. Dlamini says some beneficiaries will get paid on Monday – April 3, since the first falls on a weekend. Only beneficiaries who receive their grants through their merchant[…]

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Gordhan to appear before Scopa over Sassa crisis

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will appear before Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday to clear up Treasury’s stance on the social grants crisis. Committee chairperson Themba Godi said last week the meeting would help the committee understand Treasury’s reservations on the proposed new contract with current grants[…]

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Zuma can fire me: Bathabile

Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini said on Sunday that “fraud and corruption is well documented in cash transfer systems throughout the world and South Africa is no different”, adding that grants will be paid on April 1. Dlamini was briefing the media on the Sassa debacle that has left[…]

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The real risks behind South Africa’s social grant payment crisis

The dispute hovering over South Africa’s social grant system and threatening millions of vulnerable beneficiaries with nonpayment creates risks that go far beyond interrupting poor people’s access to desperately needed grants. The failure of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), which is responsible for the payment and administration of[…]

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We won’t meet deadline on social grants: Dlamini

Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini has insisted that everyone will be paid their grant come April 1, despite telling MPs that her department would not be able to make the deadline on finding a new service provider. This, she told Parliament on Wednesday, was despite the fact that the South[…]

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The long queue for social grants

On Wednesday the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) defended its decision to extend its grant payment contract with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS). On the same day, many social grants were paid out. GroundUp visited several pay points to talk to recipients. Sassa’s current contract with CPS — the company[…]

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SASSA warns against scammers

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has warned beneficiaries about scam SMS messages doing the rounds, calling for beneficiaries to change their SASSA cards. Over the past year, numerous beneficiaries have witnessed unauthorised deductions from their SASSA accounts, ranging from airtime to electricity purchases. In response to the scam[…]

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‘Social grants need to be linked to skills training’

As the South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA) continues to investigate recent unauthorized dedications, many questions have raised about both the impact and sustainability of social grants. While the number of people who accessed social grants in 1994 was approximately four million, as of September 2015, the number stood at 17[…]

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