Net 1 UEPS Technologies (Net1) has given the assurance that its subsidiary‚ Cash Paymaster Services (ICPS)‚ will pay out 17 million social grants to 10.5 million recipients on April 1.
Responding to the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Friday the company’s board said the subsidiary is committed to ensuring the payouts.
The court ruled on Friday that the CPS contract is to be upheld for a further 12 months under stringent conditions.
“The board confirmed that CPS had been in contact with SASSA and could confirm that the preparatory process for the payment of grants was on track for the April payment cycle ensuring 10.5m million people will be paid as usual on the 1st April and for the next 12 months as per their constitutional obligation‚” Net1 said in a statement.
There were concerns that the government would not be able to ensure distribution of the grants when CPS’ contract – which had previously been declared invalid by the court – expires at the end of this month.
President Jacob Zuma has apologised to the country for the “undue anxiety” caused by the social grants debacle‚ saying the government “deeply regrets” it.
He assured the nation on Saturday that all beneficiaries would receive their social grants on April 1.
He added that he had directed the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Comprehensive Social Security to ensure that the order of the court was implemented efficiently and diligently and in its entirety.
Zuma noted that the court had given clear directives on the extension of the grants distribution and the parameters within which government must operate in this regard.
“I want to assure all grant beneficiaries that government will implement the directive of the Constitutional Court and uphold the Constitutional rights of the poor and vulnerable in our society‚” he stated.
