Maybe they can send pigeons to deliver cash, says CPS CEO

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Johannesburg – A confident Serge Belamant, chief executive of Net1 subsidiary Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) said on Wednesday his company was the only service provider that can manage grant payments, unless if government could send "pigeons to fly around" and deliver the cash. Belamant told reporters outside the Constitutional Court that only CPS can deliver grants, except for the SA Post Office and "pigeons". "We are not unreasonable people... one thing we have proven is that we can do the job. Another point is, is there anybody who can step in our shoes?...the answer is no, except for the post office or the pigeons they can use to, you know... fly money around. But apart from these who else is available?" asked Belamant. He said the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) went to tender and no one could prove they could do the job, including the Post Office and the bank as "they lacked the technological know-how". Belamant added further that CPS insurance products and microloans were cheapest in the country.

"If anyone comes to close to [what we charge] we will pay them back. Our loans are 50 percent cheaper than anyone else's... our insurance is about 30 to 40 percent cheaper than anyone else's. We have issued out over 300 000 insurance packages and we will continue to provide the service because we think it is an important service for the country as a whole."

The outspoken Belamant, who has been accused of displaying arrogance by MPs on Tuesday, announced that due to the logistics behind processing of payments, grants and pensions would not be paid on April 1, if a contract with his company is not concluded on Wednesday.

Payments to at least 17 million beneficiaries hang in the balance as Sassa finds itself unable to take over from CPS when the company's contract expires at the end of the month.

The application by Black Sash and Freedom Under Law (FUL) who are seeking the reinstatement of the Constitutional Court’s oversight role regarding the payment of social grants to South African beneficiaries, was being heard in the highest court in Johannesburg on Wednesday.