Chairperson, Sassa is indeed dealing with allegations of corruption in relation to the issuing of tenders, as asked by the hon member. An integral investigation was conducted to confirm reported irregularities in three regional offices, which were ultimately confirmed. The cases relate to allegations regarding the issuing of tenders to friends and relatives without following the correct procurement processes. The difference is that we deal with these things in the ANC, we don't hide them. I can hear an hon member saying yes. We never hear the story in the Western Cape.
The internal investigation identified a number of red flags that pointed to possible collusion between certain service providers and Sassa employees during the implementation of the Social Relief of Distress programme. The cases have been referred to the Special Investigating Unit, SIU, which we work with in the department, for a forensic audit to determine whether there has been any unlawful benefit by any Sassa employee from the service providers or any conflict of interest by Sassa employees. We are awaiting a report from the SIU to decide on how the process should be taken forward. Once we get that kind of report we will certainly act, as we have already done before. I thank you.
Chair, I must state that the response is appreciated. It really shows the extent to which the ANC and its leadership are committed to fighting corruption and uproot it wherever it exists. We wish the Minister all the strength and capacity to deal with it decisively wherever it may be found. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Chairperson, I just want to raise a matter directly related to this particular issue. In the areas of Bushbuckridge, there is some kind of arrangement that the people who receive social grants must receive them at supermarkets. But then there is an arrangement that they must buy for a certain amount before they get the balance due to them. When we checked, the supermarkets said they had an arrangement with the Sassa office. I just want to check whether there is any policy from Sassa that allows for people to get their money from a supermarket only after they have bought for a certain amount. I want to know whether this is not part of corrupt activities. Thanks, Chair.
You are sneaking the question in, hey!
Hon Chair, this matter is related to what I responded to in the previous question, which was also sneaked in where a window was broken.
This is a matter where the current service providers - in fact, two of them are acting outside the agreement that was made with them. In other words, what I am saying is that this was not stated in the current contracts with those service providers. The contracts, which were signed by provinces before Sassa's existence, state that there will be payment to beneficiaries in certain manners.
Recently, there has been movement towards using what they call "the merchants". The merchants are these shopkeepers and shops. This practice is mainly prevalent in KwaZulu-Natal. There are notices at the shops. In some of these merchants' places the notices state that any beneficiary who receives payment there must spend 10% of what they receive.
We are dealing with this matter. It may not quite be a corruption matter in the sense of the corruption we were talking about in the previous question, but this is a kind of artistic manipulation by the service provider. So, we are dealing with this. This is actually a matter of acting outside the contract that we have with the people. We are acting on these issues. Thank you very much.
Audit of all informal settlements and timeframes for audit
57. Mr D V Bloem (Cope) asked the Minister of Human Settlements:
Whether, with reference to the President's visit to Sweetwater informal settlement, his department is conducting an audit of all informal settlements; if not, why not; if so (a) how is this being done and (b) within which timeframe? CO280E
Chairperson, with regard to the issue of Sweetwater, I just want to say that this becomes part of what the national Department of Human Settlements has done in conducting a comprehensive national assessment on informal settlements across all nine provinces. This was done during the 2008-09 financial years. The findings of the assessment were that there are 2 799 informal settlements in South Africa. We are speaking about approximately 590 000 people living in informal settlements. This is the magnitude of the challenge we have in terms of informal housing in South Africa. So, this is what we have been doing, Dennis.
As we have done in Balfour, in whatever area the President touches on, we ensure that the national Department of Human Settlements is part of the team that makes a follow-up and assists in ensuring that the challenges are addressed together with the identified provinces. I'm sure that in this instance we will work with the department of housing in Gauteng in addressing the issues that have been raised in Sweetwater. But generally, there are 2 799 informal settlements.
Thank you, Deputy Minister, for a very good answer. The Minister went to sleep in Diepsloot last year. Is this part and parcel of conducting an audit? Is he also planning to go and sleep in Sweetwater? Thank you very much. [Laughter.]
That is a new question altogether. Anyway, hon Deputy Minister, you can respond if you want to.
Well, when the Minister went to Diepsloot, he was ensuring that we live and understand the living conditions of our people. As a result of his visit to Diepsloot, we have a task team at a national level that is consistently with the people of Diepsloot to address the challenges there. It was not just a visit that we forgot about afterwards. This is a consistent process. We even communicated with Shoprite on Friday to ensure that people's lives in that area do change. So, this is not a public exercise but a serious issue.
See also QUESTIONS AND REPLIES.