DA, Bosa gunning for Social Development Dept over grant payments debacle
Opposition parties are set on holding the Department of Social Development accountable for leaving thousands of beneficiaries without their grants in September.
CAPE TOWN - Opposition parties are set on holding the Department of Social Development accountable for leaving thousands of beneficiaries without their grants in September.
Postbank, the payment system used by Sassa, on Tuesday, told the public that all beneficiaries had now been paid after going without their grants for two weeks.
However, opposition parties are not leaving it at that.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) against Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, the Department of Social Development, Sassa and Postbank on Tuesday.
Build One SA (Bosa) has also requested that the financial and fiscal commission probe the department's decision to return R15 billion in social grants funding to Treasury.
And now, the DA is set to invite Sassa to the Western Cape’s standing committee on social development to account for the social grant payments debacle.
DA Western Cape chairperson on social development, Dan Plato: "Still today, many vulnerable and poor people did not receive their grants. The national minister of social development, Minister Zulu, had the audacity to send back R15 billion to national Treasury, money that was meant for the poorest of the poor."
Plato said it was clear the minister does not understand the plight of the people in South Africa's communities.
The Freedom Front Plus echoed Plato's sentiments, saying the minister needed to be held accountable.
Eyewitness News has reached out to the social development department and the Western Cape Sassa office for comment but has yet to receive a response.
