The North Gauteng High Court has dismissed Moneyline’s application to compel Social Development Minister Susan Shabangu to replace Sassa’s
acting chief executive.
Moneyline, which is a Net1
subsidiary, brought an application before the court to declare that Sassa was in contempt of a previous court ruling in which it undertook to “pay the social grants of Easy Pay Everywhere (EPE) account holders who provided biometric consent for payment of their grants into their EPE accounts, unless otherwise authorised in terms of a duly completed and submitted Annexure C form,” said Moneyline in court papers.
Sassa said it welcomed the
judgment and had assured beneficiaries they would receive their grants timeously.
Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said: “ Sassa views the interest of the beneficiary as central to the payment of social grants and reassures all beneficiaries who qualify for social grants that they will continue to receive their grant money.”
Sassa is in the process of phasing out the Grindrod CPS payment method and replacing it with a new one. Sassa beneficiaries would be moved to the new model which places the SA Post Office as a dominant player.
The Pretoria High Court last month handed down an interim order
requiring Sassa to pay social grants
into accounts chosen by grant
beneficiaries. This came after complaints that Sassa had implemented a programme to pay beneficiaries through the
post office against beneficiaries’ instructions.
Sassa has, however, reiterated that beneficiaries had options to choose from where they would like to collect their grant. “Beneficiaries are also reminded of their choice on the method of payment of their respective social grants. “They can choose to receive their social grants payment through the SA Post Office, which is serving as Sassa’s official partner in the payment of social grants.
Alternatively, they may choose to receive their grants directly into their personal bank accounts in terms of regulation 21(1)(a) of the Social Assistance Regulations by indicating a bank of their choice,” said Letsatsi.
Acting Judge Mokose dismissed Moneyline’s application with costs.