Catastrophic indecision

SOUTH Africa is facing a potential disaster – the contract of Cash Paymaster Services to distribute social grants is due to expire in weeks and, incredibly, there is still no alternative arrangement in place to ensure des- perately needed grants are dispensed to 17 million people who depend on them for survival. The Constitutional Court ruled that the current contract was illegal. The Department of Social Development was given a grace period of almost two and half years to come up with a solution. It hasn’t. Instead it wants permission to continue using CPS to avoid the chaos that would ensue from im- plementing makeshift arrangements. The responsible minister, Bathabile Dlamini, has not appeared before Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts over the apparently unauthorised expenditure of R1 billion. Civil society organisations are deeply con- cerned. Cosatu has called for Dlamini to be removed. It’s not an unreasonable request. The response by the ANC Women’s League, which Dlamini heads, has bordered on a hysterical defence of the indefens- ible, while the government’s response has been remarkably low key, with the Presidency talking about preventing beneficiaries from being “in- convenienced”. Minister Jeff Radebe’s announcement that the cabinet will consider the “social grants situation” in the coming week was welcome, but there is sure- ly no doubt that Dlamini should be held account- able for the debacle. She should, in fact, step down. What is especially unforgivable is that the gov- ernment was warned of the looming crisis by opposition parties last year. Governments don’t always pay serious attention to their opponents, but that is not the same as pay- ing nil attention to their most vulnerable citizens.