Johannesburg – The Public Protecor Busisiwe Mkhwebane lashed out on South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) for its failure to award new contracts for the distribution of food parcels during Covid-19.
In her report, Mkhwebane gave a plight to Sassa’s inability to procure contracts on time, and addressed that there was undue delay in along the process to distribute food in various provinces.
The Auditor-General ruled irregularities and poor control amid the Covid-19 stimulus package last year, where close to government’s coronavirus relief package R500 billion went missing.
The irregularities were found in the social development department that spearheads Sassa.
Mkhwebane’s review of the matter comes following a complaint lodged in July 2020, by the Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa.
“Appointed service providers were stuck with huge stockpiles of food in warehouses, due to the uncertainty about the extension of their contracts to provide food parcels,” said Mkhwebane.
“Sassa failed to deliver services and relief as many households were left without food parcels during a critical time during the COVID-19 pandemic,” added Mkhwebane in her report.
Mkhwebane said Sassa’s CEO should priorities accountability training for his staff.
She has also ruled that disciplinary action be initiated to deal with the issue of wasteful expenditure.
“The investigation confirmed that there was, indeed, undue delay by Sassa in awarding new contacts to service providers for the distribution of food parcels in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, resulting in a failure to distribute food parcels in the four provinces during the period November 2019 to March 2020.”
“So, it’s four provinces instead of six provinces according to our investigation,” alluded Mkhwebane.
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