Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini has to ensure grants are paid come April 1.
This is what ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, who spoke for the first time on the saga, told Sowetan.
Mantashe said: "The minister must make sure the grants are paid. The point I am making is, people must be paid, that's my concern right now."
This comes as there is a legal battle between the Constitutional Court and Dlamini, with the court demanding answers on how the department arrived at the decision that it could not provide the service to distribute the grants in-house.
The Constitutional Court is demanding answers from Dlamini and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) with regard to how they determined how the social grants should be paid out from April 1.
The court yesterday sent papers to Dlamini demanding to know who was the person responsible for determining on behalf of Sassa whether the agency itself would not be able to pay the grants by the end of March.
It also asked the date when the responsible person on behalf of Sassa first became aware it would not be able to pay the grants itself and the reason why the court was not immediately informed of this fact, and who made the decision that it was not necessary to do so.
The Constitutional Court has given Dlamini until Monday to respond to the questions.
Mantashe refused to be drawn into the Constitutional Court's questions to Dlamini.
He also did not want to reveal if the ANC leaders had met with Dlamini over the social grant saga.
A court ruling in 2014 found the contract between Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), which is responsible to disburse 17 million social grants on behalf of Sassa, was unlawful and instructed Sassa to find a new company that will pay the grants. The CPS contract expires at the end of the month.
CPS director Serge Belamant was not available for comment at the time of going to print yesterday.
The DA, which approached the Constitutional Court specifically seeking a declaration that Dlamini has violated her oath of office by failing to perform the functions of her office with honour, dignity and to the best of her ability, said Dlamini was no longer fit to hold office.
DA shadow minister on social development Bridget Masango said the party has repeatedly called on President Jacob Zuma to fire her.
"His silence on this matter is deafening and serves to confirm that the ANC rewards failure," Masango said.
Spokeswoman for the department Lumka Oliphant said she was in Cape Town and would have to find out from lawyers if the papers had been served.
modjadjin@sowetan.co.za
Ensure grants are paid: Gwede Mantashe
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini has to ensure grants are paid come April 1.
This is what ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, who spoke for the first time on the saga, told Sowetan.
Mantashe said: "The minister must make sure the grants are paid. The point I am making is, people must be paid, that's my concern right now."
This comes as there is a legal battle between the Constitutional Court and Dlamini, with the court demanding answers on how the department arrived at the decision that it could not provide the service to distribute the grants in-house.
The Constitutional Court is demanding answers from Dlamini and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) with regard to how they determined how the social grants should be paid out from April 1.
The court yesterday sent papers to Dlamini demanding to know who was the person responsible for determining on behalf of Sassa whether the agency itself would not be able to pay the grants by the end of March.
It also asked the date when the responsible person on behalf of Sassa first became aware it would not be able to pay the grants itself and the reason why the court was not immediately informed of this fact, and who made the decision that it was not necessary to do so.
The Constitutional Court has given Dlamini until Monday to respond to the questions.
Mantashe refused to be drawn into the Constitutional Court's questions to Dlamini.
He also did not want to reveal if the ANC leaders had met with Dlamini over the social grant saga.
A court ruling in 2014 found the contract between Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), which is responsible to disburse 17 million social grants on behalf of Sassa, was unlawful and instructed Sassa to find a new company that will pay the grants. The CPS contract expires at the end of the month.
CPS director Serge Belamant was not available for comment at the time of going to print yesterday.
The DA, which approached the Constitutional Court specifically seeking a declaration that Dlamini has violated her oath of office by failing to perform the functions of her office with honour, dignity and to the best of her ability, said Dlamini was no longer fit to hold office.
DA shadow minister on social development Bridget Masango said the party has repeatedly called on President Jacob Zuma to fire her.
"His silence on this matter is deafening and serves to confirm that the ANC rewards failure," Masango said.
Spokeswoman for the department Lumka Oliphant said she was in Cape Town and would have to find out from lawyers if the papers had been served.
modjadjin@sowetan.co.za
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