Zuma believes social grants payments issue ‘solvable’

President Jacob Zuma believes that the social grants payments issue is “solvable”‚ the Presidency said on Saturday.

It said Zuma had met with the ministers of finance and social development on Saturday afternoon to receive a progress report on the readiness to pay social grant beneficiaries from April 1.

There has been concern about the continued payment of social grants – which about 17 million people rely on – when the South African Social Security Agency’s contract with Cash Paymaster Services ends on March 31.

The Presidency said that Saturday’s meeting followed other briefings that the president had received on the matter.

 “The President is of the view that the matters are solvable. He has directed the two Ministers to mandate their technical teams to work on the outstanding issues in order to ensure that social grant beneficiaries receive their grants on the 1st of April.

“The Ministers will keep the President briefed on progress. They assured the President that everything possible will be done to find solutions‚” the Presidency said in a brief statement after the meeting.