SA Government Starts Review Of Social Grants Payment System

The government has started a review of the social grant payment system, hoping to fix long-running problems that have affected the lives of millions of people.

This was revealed during a meeting on Monday between government officials, academics and civil society groups who for years have been advocating for the rights of South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) beneficiaries. About 28-million people receive grants every month.

The plan is to re-examine the Master Service Agreement and Service Level Agreement between SASSA, the SA Post Office (SAPO), and Postbank. These agreements have guided grant payments since 2018, when SAPO became SASSA’s payment partner. After SAPO’s financial collapse, Postbank took over in 2022, but payment problems continued.

“We are looking to complete this project by the end of December. In June and July we’ll be gathering data and by September, the first draft is expected to be completed,” said Stellah Masombuka, who is leading the project from the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME).

She said the department will examine what caused the breakdowns between SASSA and Postbank, what worked and what did not, and will consider ways to make the grant payment system better.

The plan, presented by the DPME on Monday, mentioned recurring problems such as “network challenges and system glitches during grant payment runs, leading to failed transactions,” and Postbank’s failure to provide access to chairs, water, and toilets to beneficiaries waiting in queues at Postbank branches.

“I acknowledge that the challenges on the ground are immediate. This document is part of the evidence we are documenting on what is happening,” said Masombuka in response to questions about the time allocated for this review.

Responding to concerns about whether the evaluation would reflect the experiences of grant recipients, she said: “The easiest way of getting the viewpoints of the beneficiaries would be to work with the organisations that represent the beneficiaries.”

Civil society groups have until Friday, 23 May to comment and nominate representatives for the project’s steering committee.

The department’s senior evaluation specialist Kgaugelo Moshia-Molebatsi said based on recommendations by the steering committee, “an improvement plan will be tabled, and a progress report will then be produced every six months for two years.”

Black Sash advocacy manager Hoodah Abrahams-Fayker welcomed that government has “finally acknowledged” problems with the agreement between SASSA and Postbank. But she urged the department to deal with the review “as a matter of urgency”.

“We are concerned that the rapid assessment is not rapid enough… An urgent intervention is needed now.”

“All Black Sash wants is to ensure that there is a system in place where beneficiaries are put first. And that the social grant system is efficient and effective so that beneficiaries receive the full value of their grants.”

Nathan Taylor from #PayTheGrants said: “It should not have taken this long.” He applauded the DPME’s promise to gather beneficiaries’ experiences, and to include civil society in the process.

He said the group would also raise concerns about the National Treasury’s role in the process.

Taylor called for the final report to be made public. He also suggested that a separate review be made of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant system.