NATIONAL NEWS - Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini is not convinced the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) tender can be diligently carried out by the Post Office, another government entity.
In terms of the Constitutional Court judgment handed earlier this year to regularise an illegally awarded contract to CPS/Net1, the department was expected to provide regular reports on the road map of how the tender would eventually be carried out internally.
The department, as the Sassa executive authority, was also instructed to procure a new service provider by the beginning of 2018-19 financial year around March 2017.
This saw Scopa, together with the portfolio committee on social development, for the past two weeks raining down on Dlamini, Telecommunications Minister Dr Siyabonga Cwele and the two state-owned entities to reach an agreement.
When National Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane told MPs last week that after being instructed to work “throughout the night” to thrash out a deal, the two entities had failed to “find each other” and also stated that technical teams from both parties had failed to meet.
