NATIONAL NEWS - Social Development Minister Susan Shabangu assured the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) and the portfolio committee on social development that the suspension of the process to get a new service provider would not affect grant beneficiaries.
Shabangu said the South African Social Services Agency (Sassa) would comply with the September 30 deadline, before which they had to find a service provider to take over the cash payment of social grants.
“We suspended the tender of the 2.5 million people’s payment because there were challenges […] in the process of the tender,” Shabangu told the committee.
The minister said the suspension of the tender process was filed with the court on March 23 and reasons for the process being suspended were stated in the court papers. She added these reasons were further outlined in the agency’s monthly report submitted on Monday.
In court papers filed for the suspension of the tender, Shabangu stated the team of individuals tasked with judging tender proposals – the current bid evaluation committee – did not have technical knowledge and expertise to evaluate proposals.
She explained the minister required more time to appoint persons with the required knowledge and expertise to assess “the technical aspects of the bids”.
