Cape Town – A parliamentary inquiry into the social grants crisis is warranted following claims by Sassa CEO Thokozani Magwaza and former social development Director-General Zane Dangor, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday.
The affidavits they filed with the Constitutional Court supported allegations that Minister Bathabile Dlamini deliberately delayed appointing a new service provider to pay grants, DA MP Bridget Masango said.
“The testimonies by Magwaza and Dangor support the DA’s long-held belief that Dlamini deliberately bungled the process of procuring an alternative service provider to distribute the R10bn in social grants payments, because she and her network of cronies could possibly benefit from the extension of the invalid CPS contract.”
Masango said Dangor’s affidavit, filed on Monday, revealed that Dlamini “bypassed” her own department to ensure that Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) kept distributing social grants.
“In fact, he stated that ‘parallel decision-making structures in the form of the work streams may have been deliberate to ensure a continued relationship with CPS under conditions favourable to CPS, through a self-created emergency’.”
Magwaza’s affidavit, filed earlier this month, suggested Dlamini was determined to ensure that the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) would not take over the distribution of social grants.
“Seeing that the president has completely failed to hold Dlamini to account, it is now up to Parliament to do so,” Masango said.
The party would submit Magwaza and Dangor’s affidavits to social development portfolio committee chairperson Rose Capa to strengthen the call for an inquiry.
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