The Constitutional Court has been asked to send to jail Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) employees who prevent SA Post Office (Sapo) officials – in one instance threatening them with a firearm – from migrating social grants beneficiaries to the new payment system, says a report in The Star.

Sassa wants incidents of CPS and its affiliates disrupting, interfering or refusing Sapo and agency officials access to grants paypoints to be declared to be in contempt of court. According to papers filed at the court, Sassa, CPS and Sapo are under a constitutional obligation to ensure that social grants are paid to more than 17m beneficiaries and must therefore co-operate in the migration process without any disruption by any official and/or agents of CPS and its affiliated parties or entities.

Sassa also wants the notice threatening jail time for anyone interfering with the migration process to be displayed at all paypoints across the country.

In his founding affidavit, acting Sassa chief executive Abraham Mahlangu said he had received disturbing reports and information that CPS officials or agents refused or restrained Sapo and Sassa employees from accessing paypoints and performing their normal duties to expedite the migration of social grants beneficiaries from CPS to the Post Office.

‘Sassa has reason to fear that if appropriate steps are not taken, the supervisory status of the honourable court in ensuring Sassa and the Minister (of Social Development Susan Shabangu) comply with their obligations and undertakings to meet their deadline of migrating social grants beneficiaries from CPS to the Post Office will be undermined,’ reads Mahlangu’s affidavit.

Full report in The Star (subscription needed)