Routine Police Search in Tembisa Uncovers 250 SASSA Cards, Leading to Arrest of Three Suspects

Three South African males were arrested in Tembisa after their car was stopped by police for a routine search on Wednesday.

What started as a routine search for the multi-disciplinary team which comprised of Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department and Johannesburg Metro Police were executing operational duties, when they stopped a suspected vehicle on Andrew Mapetho Drive in Tembisa. The Ekurhuleni Metro Politan Department released the information that the three suspects, who were aged between 38 and 47 years, were carrying two hundred and fifty Sassa cards. According to Ekurhuleni Metro Politan Police Department, the suspects were arrested and detained at Tembisa police station. The trio is expected to appear in court soon.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is a government agency that manages social security services in South Africa. Its role is to, among others, provide social security services, including grants and allowances, protect people from poverty and vulnerability, establish a legislative framework for social grants, provide social relief of distress, pay the right social grant to the right person at the right time and place.

In another revelation that has sparked widespread condemnation, the company which was contracted by SASSA to disburse cash payments to social grant beneficiaries, Cash Paymaster Services, has come under fire for practices that seem to go against protocol in the handling of cash. In a sworn affidavit, one of the former senior security officers said that cash that had been meant as Sassa grants exchanged hands in an underground parking lot in Rosebank and ended up in the boot of one of the officials of the cash disbursements company. However, the former Chief Operations Officer of Cash Paymaster Services, Nanda Pillay, whose luxurious BMW is said to be one of the cars that was seen collecting cash in the underground parking lot, said that cash was sometimes delivered to the CPS offices as they had automated teller machines for cash disbursements.

Meanwhile, the Fidelity Services Group, the company which was contracted to ensure the smooth movement of cash, has distanced itself from the affidavit written by its senior security officer. In a statement, the Fidelity Services Group Chief Executive Officer, Wahl Bartmann, had this to say in response to questions sent to him by the media, “We cannot comment directly on any of these specific allegations, but we can confirm Fidelity provided services to CPS to move and secure cash, including the daily movement of cash at depots, pay sites, offices, branches, and ATMs!”