Social grant payout deal to revert to SASSA: The suspicious dealings of Net1 and Cash Paymaster Services and its sister companies, in order to get more profit out of our social grant system, will end in 2017. The tender is worth billions, so huge profits have already been made by them. In a long legal saga, when CPS won this massive tender it was challenged in court by a rival company. The Constitutional Court ruled that the tender had been won illegally and that SASSA had to re-issue the tender. It also said that payouts had to be ring-fenced – protected from questionable deductions. However, to keep the system paying out, the Court agreed to let CPS continue until 2017. Since then, instead of re-issuing a tender, SASSA told the Court in October 2015 that it would rather in-source payouts from 2017. This is no doubt due to the evidence and pressure from human rights organisations. They have shown how open the system was to problems when it was a commercial venture. SASSA has to report to the court on how it is to achieve this.

Court stops deductions: Late in 2015 an important court case was heard about questionable deductions from child support grants. The Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dhlamini, had stopped any deductions for airtime, insurance and so on from these grants, which are supposed to be only for the benefit of a child. SASSA was challenged on this by Lion of Africa insurance company, but the court ruled against the company and agreed that the deductions could not be made.

Shop-owner caught with pensioner’s SASSA cards: In 2015 a rural shop owner in North West Province was bust by a visiting official from the Department of Social Development, Ms Fenny Gaolaolwe. The person had forty-seven social grant cards belonging to pensioners. Ms Gaolaolwe had visited the home of a pensioner and asked to see her card, and the old woman admitted the local shop-keeper had it. The owner kept the cards and deducted money after giving the pensioners credit and loans.

Mashonisas arrested: In July 2014 eighteen loan sharks appeared in different magistrate courts in the Free State. They were charged with defrauding social grants beneficiaries. Even though the mashonisas were approached by the victims themselves for loans, it was illegal for them to both lend to people on social grants and then automatically deduct from the cards, plus illegal for them to hold the SASSA cards. They had 800 cards in their possession.

Black Sash hosts ‘speak out’ on illegal deductions: In July 2015 victims of illegal deductions from Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek gathered at a meeting hosted by Black Sash. It was also attended by a senior official of the Department of Social Development, representatives from Emerald Wealth Management (EWM), the South African Human Rights Commission and a representative of funeral plan companies. Many testimonies were given about illegal, unauthorised deductions for airtime, electricity, water, and life policies. After the event, an unscrupulous agent selling life policies for EWN was fired.