Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini finally turned up in parliament yesterday
A JOINT meeting of the standing committee on public accounts, the portfolio committee on social development, and Sassa took place yesterday.
They discussed the phasing out of service provider Cash Paymaster Services and the procurement of alternative payment services for social grants.
This came a day after Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini said the deal with the post office was off because it couldn’t provide all four of the services required.
Sassa has just under five months to phase out the service provider, as ordered by an earlier Constitutional Court ruling.
In parliament to answer questions, Dlamini said the post office does not have a banking licence.
But CEO Mark Barnes denied this.
When asked by MPs if the service provider had a banking licence, the minister could not answer. “We are not fighting the post office. We need to know who their service providers will be for production of bank cards,” she said.
It was the first time the post office could relate its side of the story with Sassa present. The two parties agreed to return to the negotiating table to work through the night and report on progress at 6pm today.
Barnes asked the department to consider them as service providers again.
“We are already licensed by the Postbank Act. It simply is about the accommodation of cash flow, so this is a systems capability, not a credit or risk capability.
“We do not need to register as a merchant. That disqualification is without substance,” Barnes told parliament. He also disputed Sassa claims that they would need R6 billion to take over grant payment services.
Irritated MPs suggested that President Jacob Zuma intervene before it’s too late, saying the minister must state if she wanted a private company or the post office.
