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58-505: SASSA was founded in 2005 to centralise the provision of social security assistance, formerly a primarily provincial function, in order to reduce corruption and improve service delivery. It was closely modelled on its Australian counterpart, Centrelink . Its key functions relate to the administration and payment of social grants, which support a large proportion of the South African population: in 2022, 46% of South Africans received

116-508: A smear campaign by people involved in state capture related corrupt activities due to Gordhan's efforts to fight corruption; du Toit names people associated with the Gupta family , Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and factions within the ANC as being amongst Gordhan's harshest critics whilst also being implicated themselves in possible corrupt activities. Other people and organisations, including

174-482: A banking licence, nor enough post offices to properly distribute grants. Dlamini expressed a desire to remain with CPS until SASSA was capable to take over, reasoning that this posed the least risk of SASSA defaulting on grant payments. She claimed that the process to distribute grants through SASSA was well underway, insisting that the Department was halfway through a four-phase plan which would culminate in 2019 with

232-471: A letter to the Hawks through his department that he would be unable to meet the deadline imposed. The letter from his office stated that "He will respond in due course, once he has properly examined the questions and ascertained what information, of the information you request, he is able to provide". He also wanted to know from what authority the Hawks asked these questions of him. On 30 March 2016, he replied to

290-482: A loss; it therefore ordered CPS to continue to deliver social grants at the same price it had contracted for in 2012. The Constitutional Court found that "the responsible functionaries of SASSA" had been aware from April 2016 that they could not comply with their undertaking to the Court previously that they would be able to pay social grants from 1 April 2017. The Constitutional Court held Dlamini primarily responsible for

348-573: A ministerial task team concluded that SASSA itself should take over the paying out of grants. In 2015, SASSA issued a new tender but did not award it, opting instead to insource the disbursement of grants by 2017. In the 2015/2016 financial year, SASSA recorded additional, irregular expenditure on the CPS contract for the re-registration of grant beneficiaries because legal requirements had been circumvented. The then Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan advised

406-473: A new tender process. Each month, the National Treasury deposits the total amount to be paid out into a Nedbank trust account. Interest earned during this period goes to the state. All beneficiary accounts are held at Grindrod Bank . A grant recipient can withdraw their grant from any SASSA paypoint across the country, which carries no withdrawal charge, and which Net1 CEO Serge Belamont claims

464-502: A pejorative term and dog whistle to highlight his Indian ethnicity in a racially prejudicial way. On the eve of the 2016 Budget Speech that was to be tabled on 24 February 2016, a list of questions from the Hawks was sent to Gordhan. In total there were 27 questions around the alleged "rogue unit" at South African Revenue Service (SARS) . Gordhan was the SARS commissioner in 2007, when

522-433: A social grant. SASSA's functions including processing applications for social security assistance, verifying and approving applications, disbursing and paying the grants to eligible beneficiaries, and preventing and detecting fraud . SASSA employs biometric technology, including fingerprint and facial recognition, to verify the identity of beneficiaries. This helps ensure that the grants reach the intended recipients and reduce

580-617: A subsidiary of Net1 UEPS Technologies , was awarded a five-year, R10 billion tender to distribute social grants on behalf of SASSA from February 2012. A rival bidder, AllPay, challenged the procurement process in court; in 2014, in AllPay v CEO of SASSA , the Constitutional Court found that irregular processes had been followed, and consequently declared the tender invalid, but suspended the order in order not to interrupt grant payments, and to allow SASSA an opportunity to initiate

638-566: A year, from September 2015, to prepare for being a paymaster". However, SASSA only began preparations in December, and it had until then been ignored for years. While SASSA told Parliament it had not had enough time, it had also claimed before the Constitutional Court that it would not need CPS a year after the 2017/2018 financial year—contradicting a letter by Dlamini, sent on 2 February, that stated CPS would no longer be needed at

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696-438: Is being extended until 31 March 2024. SASSA R350 grant is designed to help unemployed South African between the age of 18–59 years with no source of income. SASSA aims to eliminate long queues at its local offices across the country, so that beneficiaries can check payment dates and application status online, SASSA ensures smooth experience when applying for their Social Grants. In January 2012, Cash Paymaster Services (CPS),

754-422: Is more secure because of the biometric security checks on fingerprints; or from designated retailers such as Pick n Pay, which work with EasyPay, another company owned by Net1, to allow these withdrawals; or from ATMs. Moneyline, another Net1 company, provides loans to grant recipients. Umoya Manje, also another company owned by Net1, allows grant beneficiaries to buy cellphone airtime on credit. In December 2014,

812-547: Is the provincial government and, below that, the administration of district and metropolitan municipalities. South Africa has two houses of parliament: the National Assembly, and the National Council of Provinces. The second exists to ensure that the interests of each province are protected in the laws passed by the National Assembly. Each one of South Africa's nine provinces sends 10 representatives to

870-624: Is the three-month Social Relief of Distress Grant, which provides immediate temporary assistance in the form of vouchers, food parcels, or cash. The temporary Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant was introduced in May 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic ; in October 2022, Enoch Godongwana , the Minister of Finance , announced that it would be extended to remain in place until March 2024. In 2015, of

928-533: The 2024 general elections . Pravin Gordhan was born on 12 April 1949 to an Indian South African family, in Durban , and matriculated from Sastri College in 1967. In 1973 he graduated from the University of Durban-Westville with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree. He completed his pharmacy internship at King Edward VIII Hospital in 1974 and worked there until 1981. Gordhan became associated with members of

986-639: The Cape Province and Transvaal were divided into three provinces each, plus North West Province which straddles the border of and contains territory from both these two former provinces. The twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth amendments to the Constitution of South Africa changed the borders of seven of the provinces. The Union of South Africa was established in 1910 by combining four British colonies: Cape Colony ; Natal Colony ; Transvaal Colony ; Orange River Colony . The last two were, before

1044-773: The Kathrada Foundation , author Pieter-Louis Myburgh , and journalist Ferial Haffajee . have also stated that Gordhan is the target of smear campaigns. Controversial businessman Iqbal Survé had repeatedly accused Gordhan of targeting Survé's Sekunjalo Group while Survé and Sekunjalo companies faced fraud investigations by the FSCA and termination of banking services. Survé's accusations against Gordhan were found to be baseless and lacking in evidence. Since becoming Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Gordhan's middle name, Jamnadas, has been used extensively by critics, most notably on Twitter , as

1102-599: The Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini to award a new contract to commercial South African banks and the South African Post Office (SAPO), and forego biometric identification, which contract requirement disadvantaged others bidders against CPS. However, this proposal was rejected on the grounds that the biometric system had eliminated fraudulent claims amounting to R2 billion annually; that further work to remove duplicate entries could save another R2 billion annually; and that SAPO did not have

1160-775: The Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in 1971 and was elected to its executive council in 1974. During the 1970s, Gordhan helped establish grassroots organizations that became involved in underground activities and associated with the African National Congress (ANC) and later the South African Communist Party (SACP). In 1981 the Natal Provincial Administration dismissed Gordhan from King Edward VIII Hospital for his political activities while he

1218-707: The Second Boer War , independent republics known as the South African Republic and the Orange Free State . These colonies became the four original provinces of the Union: Cape Province ; Transvaal Province ; Natal Province ; Orange Free State Province . Segregation of the black population started as early as 1913, with ownership of land by the black majority being restricted to certain areas totalling about 13% of

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1276-544: The 1980s, and amalgamated from existing magisterial districts , with some concessions to political parties that wished to consolidate their power bases, by transferring districts between the proposed provinces. The definitions of the new provinces in terms of magisterial districts were found in Schedule 1 of the Interim Constitution . On 11 July 2003, the 11th amendment to the fifth constitution renamed

1334-559: The DSD spent R30 million on the costs of legal appeals involving SASSA. In 2004, the DSD amended the Social Assistance Act in order to disallow anyone other than the beneficiary to deduct money from their account. However, 10,262 complaints about deductions were made between April 2015 and March 2016, and the DSD itself claimed "for the past two to three years" to have been fighting illegal deductions from social grants. Many of

1392-756: The Disability Grant and the Care Dependency Grant will be increased to R2080, while the Child Support Grant will be increased to R500 (with the top-up increasing to R250). The Foster Child grant will increase to R1120, with the War Veteran grant increasing to R2100 and lastly, the Grant-In-Aid increasing to R500. Further SASSA Grants Payment has been increased from 1 October 2023. The SRD Grant remains at R350 and

1450-574: The National Council of Provinces. Six of these are permanent members of the council, and four are special delegates. Each province is governed by a unicameral legislature . The size of the legislature is proportional to population, ranging from 30 members in the Northern Cape to 80 in KwaZulu-Natal . The legislatures are elected every five years by a system of party-list proportional representation ; by convention, they are all elected on

1508-561: The Northern Province to Limpopo . On 1 March 2006, the 12th and 13th amendments altered the boundaries of 7 provinces. On 3 April 2009 the 16th amendment altered the boundaries of the North West and Gauteng provinces. South Africa's provinces are governed, in different ways, on a national, provincial and local level. Nationally, there is the National Council of Provinces, one of the houses of Parliament. Then there

1566-517: The R155.3 billion given in social welfare, R53.5 billion went to pensioners, R47.8 billion to Child Support Grants, R20.2 billion to Disability Grants, and R8.5 billion for other grants, with the remainder spent on management and administration. SASSA announced that all grants would be increased from 1 April 2023. The Older Persons Grant will be increased to R2080 (for recipients between 60 and 74) and R2100 (for recipients over 75 years old). Recipients of

1624-680: The administration of justice is the responsibility of the national government. Footnotes: HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes ISO: Province codes from ISO 3166-2 . For full identification in a global context, prefix "ZA-" to the code FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10–4 , a U.S. government standard. CSS: Province codes used by the Central Statistical Service of South Africa. Footnotes: Pravin Gordhan Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan (12 April 1949 – 13 September 2024)

1682-572: The country. From the late 1950s, these areas were gradually consolidated into " homelands ", also called " bantustans ". Four of these homelands were established as quasi-independent nation states of the black population during the apartheid era. In 1976, the homeland of Transkei was the first to accept independence from South Africa, and although this independence was never acknowledged by any other country, three other homelands – Bophuthatswana (1977), Venda (1979) and Ciskei (1981) – followed suit. On 27 April 1994,

1740-434: The crisis, with Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng saying there was no explanation for the incompetence displayed by her and SASSA. According to constitutional scholar Pierre de Vos , the Constitutional Court had concluded that SASSA and Dlamini could not be trusted to do their constitutionally mandated job to ensure delivery of social grants, and could not be trusted not to lie to the courts in the future. Between 2013 and 2017,

1798-577: The date of the first non-racial elections and of the adoption of the Interim Constitution , all of these provinces and homelands were dissolved, and nine new provinces were established. The boundaries of these provinces were established in 1993 by a Commission on the Demarcation/Delimitation of Regions created by CODESA , and were broadly based on planning regions demarcated by the Development Bank of Southern Africa in

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1856-472: The end of 2019, and another letter sent a week later by SASSA chief executive Thokozani Magwaza, which claimed that the contract with CPS would only last until November 2018—both longer than a year. The Black Sash Trust, through representation by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, launched an application to the Constitutional Court , asking it to compel Dlamini and SASSA to take necessary measures to ensure

1914-406: The extant CPS contract could not be legally extended since it had already been ruled invalid by the Constitutional Court. In December 2016, SASSA was also advised to inform the Constitutional Court of its predicament, "that it faced the highly irregular prospect of going into contract for another year with [CPS]". The Agency waited until 28 February 2017 to lodge a plea, which it immediately withdrew

1972-415: The handing over of the responsibility to SASSA. Dlamini claimed in 2017 that she had only become aware in October 2016 that SASSA was likely to be unable to take over grants payments from April 2017. SASSA estimated it would pay CPS about R3.5 billion annually under a renewed contract, between 52% and 59% more than it already did. SASSA later denied that it had done such estimation, and then claimed that it

2030-554: The major banks' decision to close the Oakbay Investments accounts. In August 2017, the court ruled against his application deeming it unnecessary. In May 2019, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane released a controversial report recommending that the presidency take disciplinary action against Gordhan for past allegations of fraud at SARS. Gordhan's legal team challenged Mkhwebane's findings as being "totally wrong both in fact and in law". Mkhwebane publicly denied that it

2088-482: The matter to the Special Investigative Unit for further investigation, citing the importance of transparency and accountability and concerned about the undervaluation of SAA. On 10 September 2024, Gordhan's family announced that he was admitted to hospital. At a press conference on 12 September, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said that Gordhan was in a "critical condition" and receiving

2146-424: The minister of Social Development gave SASSA 30 days to investigate this matter. Provinces of South Africa South Africa is divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election , South Africa's former homelands, known as Bantustans , were reintegrated into the country, and the four provinces were increased to nine. The borders of Natal and the Orange Free State were retained, while

2204-494: The next day, using a letter dated the previous day. In February 2017, SASSA told Parliament's social development portfolio committee it had come up short in attempts to find working solutions to pay social grants, and claimed that the only way to make social grant payments from April was to stick with the service provider whose contract had been declared invalid. SASSA's Zodwa Mvulane told Parliament in March 2017 that they "only had

2262-465: The party's 55th National Conference in December 2022. At the conference, he was one of a number of high-profile ANC leaders to lose their seats on the NEC. Gordhan retired from politics at the end of the sixth administration of South Africa's democratic government. His intention to retire was announced in March 2024. South African journalist Pieter du Toit has written that Gordhan has become target of

2320-494: The provincial government are limited to specific topics listed in the national constitution . On some of these topics – for example, agriculture, education, health and public housing – the province's powers are shared with the national government, which can establish uniform standards and frameworks for the provincial governments to follow; on other topics the provincial government has exclusive power. The provinces do not have their own court systems, as

2378-440: The questions put to him by the Hawks. Gordhan was quoted, "I believe this was meant to intimidate and distract us from the work we had to do in preparing the 2016 Budget". In September 2017, international auditing firm KPMG abruptly withdrew all of its findings‚ recommendations, and conclusions around its report into the SARS "rogue spy unit" which had implicated Gordhan. SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane disputed KPMG's withdrawal of

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2436-528: The report withdrawal, calling it "unethical conduct", and claimed that the report is not flawed. In October 2016, South Africa's state prosecutor levied fraud charges against Gordhan for allowing a former colleague at SARS to take early retirement and then re-hiring them as a consultant. Charges were dropped a few days later. In October 2016, Gordhan lodged an application in the North Gauteng High Court to rule that he may not interfere with

2494-723: The risk of identity theft and fraud. The social assistance disbursed by SASSA takes the form of various grants; most of them are means-tested and paid in cash on a monthly basis. These are the Child Support Grant, the Care Dependency Grant, the Foster Child Grant, the Disability Grant, the Grant-in-Aid, the Older Person's Grant (an old-age pension ), and the War Veteran 's Grant. A special case

2552-579: The same day, at the same time as the National Assembly election. The provincial legislature elects, from amongst its members, a Premier , who is the head of the executive. The Premier chooses an Executive Council consisting of between five and ten members of the legislature, which is the cabinet of the provincial government. The Members of the Executive Council (MECs) are the provincial equivalent of ministers . The powers of

2610-524: The so-called rogue unit was set up. He has maintained that it was above board and had ministerial approval. Many questioned the timing of the questions sent including Gwede Mantashe , the Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC). Gordhan himself was baffled by the questions, having the following to say "Once again, the Hawks and those who instruct them, have no regard for the economic and social welfare of millions". He then sent

2668-464: The social grants system and its beneficiaries were protected when the CPS contract ended on 31 March. On 6 March 2017, the contract with Cash Paymaster Services was renewed, and the Constitutional Court's order of invalidity with regard to that contract again suspended, for another year. The Court held that no party had “any claim to profit from the threatened invasion of people’s rights” but also understood that CPS could not be expected to deliver grants at

2726-703: The unauthorised deductions were claimed by CPS to be repayment of non-existent Moneyline loans, and sales of airtime and electricity. In June 2016, SASSA, the Black Sash, and the Association of Community Advice Office (ACAOSA) laid criminal charges against the directors of CPS and Grindrod Bank, claiming that the two companies were not implementing amended regulations under the Social Assistance Act, which amendments compelled companies not to deduct money from social grant beneficiary accounts for financial services. The criminal charges were frozen until October, when Net1

2784-527: Was a South African politician and anti- apartheid activist who held various ministerial posts in the Cabinet of South Africa . He served as Minister of Finance from 2009 until 2014, and again from 2015 until 2017, as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2014 until 2015, and as Minister of Public Enterprises from February 2018 until June 2024, when the entire Department of Public Enterprises and its ministry were abolished following

2842-429: Was a simple inflation-related adjustment, which was not true. Dlamini had been advised in October 2016 that the DSD was obliged to engage in competitive tendering, and could therefore not sign a contract with CPS; she was informed that the grants crisis was also not a justification to continue using CPS, since the emergency had been self-created; and she also received a legal opinion from senior counsel Wim Trengove that

2900-511: Was accused of orchestrating the sale of South African Airways (SAA) in "an irregular manner". Gordhan had planned to sell the state-owned airline for ZAR 51 to the Takatso group, but the deal was scrapped after two years in the making. This resulted in UDM leader Bantu Holomisa to call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Gordhan. Parliament's portfolio committee on public enterprises referred

2958-604: Was appointed NIC/TIC delegate to the steering committee responsible for organising CODESA 1. In 1993 he was appointed to the panel of chairpersons on the planning committee of the multi-party negotiation process. Gordhan was previously the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service from 1999 to 2009. From 1991 and 1994, he chaired the Convention for a Democratic South Africa , and he

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3016-539: Was in detention. He was released from jail in 1982 and received banning orders effective until June 1983. Gordhan became a key figure in the United Democratic Front (UDF) since 1983 when the NIC became an affiliated organization. Gordhan attended the preparatory meeting for the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) in 1991 as a joint NIC/Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) representative, and

3074-474: Was mass fraud among the youths ID numbers which were being used to collect SASSA SRD R370 grants. In a on campus random survey of 60 people, 56 people were found to have fraudulent SASSA SRD applications. They further stated that they tested all possible ID numbers of people born in February 2005 and that there was a 91% application rate, far exceeding the current youth unemployment rate of 60%. In Parliament,

3132-541: Was part of a larger political struggle to target and discredit Gordhan. In July 2019 the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa ruled that Mkhwebane's action as Public Protector against Gordhan be suspended, pending a judicial review of Mkhwabane's report on the SARS "rogue unit". The judge stated that a number of Mkhwebane's assertions were "vague, contradictory and/or nonsensical". Gordhan

3190-562: Was re-appointed to the Cabinet of President Cyril Ramaphosa as Minister of Public Enterprises, taking over from former Minister Lynne Brown . He would oversee state-owned enterprises including the likes of Eskom , SAA , Denel , and others. Gordhan did not receive enough branch nominations to be included on the "Top 200" list of people nominated for election to the ANC National Executive Committee ahead of

3248-463: Was replaced by Nhlanhla Nene as Minister of Finance. In 2014, Gordhan was appointed the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, succeeding Lechesa Tsenoli who became Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa . On 14 December 2015, Gordhan was re-appointed Minister of Finance, replacing David van Rooyen who had been minister for four days. In 2018, Gordhan

3306-794: Was the co-Chairman of the Transitional Executive Council , which prepared South Africa for the country's first non-racial election in April 1994 . As a member of parliament from 1994 to 1998, Gordhan chaired the parliamentary committee that focused on the implementation of the new Constitution and the transformation of local government in the post-apartheid. Gordhan was chairman of the World Customs Organization from 2000 to 2006. On 10 May 2009, President Jacob Zuma appointed Gordhan as Minister of Finance , succeeding Trevor Manuel . On 25 May 2014, he

3364-512: Was to receive clarity from a High Court as to regulations. In a founding affidavit lodged with the North Gauteng High Court, Black Sash asked the court to ring-fence social grant accounts in order to protect grant beneficiaries from exploitation or abuse, and to prevent companies from soliciting beneficiaries around SASSA paypoints—practices which Black Sash and the DSD accused Net1 and its subsidiaries of encouraging. In October 2024, 2 Stellenbosch University students came forward claiming that there

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