The value of the proposed new contract between Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) was finally revealed late on Thursday‚ when the firm disclosed to the Constitutional Court its fee to distribute social grants for the next two years would be R4.7bn.

This is according to an affidavit filed with the court on Thursday by CPS director Nunthakumarin Pillay. During Wednesday’s hearings‚ CPS had been coy over the amount‚ clearly to the irritation of the court.

“It is proposed that the cost of the interim contract over the two-year period would be fixed at R194m [including VAT] per month‚ regardless of the number of beneficiaries paid by CPS‚” he said in the affidavit.

ANALYSIS: Social grants crisis – Constitutional Court’s Catch 22Damned if they do and damned if they don’t. This is the position many feel the Constitutional Court finds itself in after the social grants crisis was abandoned on its doorstep. 

“The total cost of the interim contract over the two-year period would therefore amount to R4.656bn.”

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