SA scrambles as R100bn in welfare threatened

Johannesburg - South Africa’s government, set to miss a deadline to appoint a new distributor of welfare grants worth about $10.3bn (over R100bn) a year to more than 17 million people, asked aspirant bidders to an information session as the end of a contract with Net 1 UEPS Technologies looms.

The South African Social Security Agency, which oversees the monthly payment system, took the first step toward appointing a new distributor at the session in Pretoria on January 13. It’s likely to take several more months to choose a winner, which will then have to put the necessary payment systems in place. The South African Post Office said it plans to bid.

“The tender briefing was about a request for information,” Kgomotso Diseko, a spokesperson for the agency, said by by phone. “Some of the content we are just finalising and then we will issue a statement. We are not ready yet” to select a bidder.

While the Constitutional Court ruled in November 2013 that the process of awarding the contract to Net 1, which expires at the end of March, was flawed and the tender should be issued afresh, the process was delayed by legal wrangling. The welfare system has helped bolster support for the ruling African National Congress and interrupting the payment of the grants - the only form of income for many poor families - could spark protests and wouldn’t be politically palatable.

Barclays Africa Group declined to comment on whether it was bidding for the contract, while Standard Bank Group, Nedbank Group and FirstRand’s First National Bank, the country’s other biggest lenders, didn’t immediately respond to questions.

The Post Office said it’s best-placed to distribute grants.

“We have the largest footprint by far and the reach in rural areas,” said Mark Barnes, the Post Office’s chief executive officer, who attended the Jan 13 briefing. “There will be a transition period for a new service provider to take over. I think July or August would be a realistic timeline. It could even be awarded to multiple service providers, but it should include the Post Office.”

Net 1 chief executive officer Serge Belamant wasn’t available to comment and didn’t immediately respond to e-mailed questions. Lumka Oliphant, a spokesperson for Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, didn’t answer her mobile phone. If need be, the Net 1 contract will be extended, the Social Development Department said in December.

The Democratic Alliance, the main opposition party, said Dlamini had intentionally stalled the bid process and that the livelihood of some of the country’s poorest people was being placed at risk.

“There is still no clarity as to who will perform this crucial task,” Lindy Wilson, the DA’s shadow deputy minister for social development,” said in an e-mailed statement. The minister “should stop the pretense, come clean and admit that her department and the South African Social Security Agency have already renewed their invalid multi-billion rand contract with Net 1.”