Cape Town – The South African Post Office (SAPO) has been awarded a South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) contract to assist with the distribution of social grants.

The agency presented the details of the contract before a joint parliamentary committee meeting on Tuesday.

Out of four services put out to tender, the Post Office was only awarded one – the right to provide “an integrated payment system which can also handle beneficiaries’ biometric data”.

They were not successful in their bid to provide banking services, card production and cash payments at pay points, Sassa CEO Pearl Bengu told MPs.

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With regards to cash payments at pay points, Sassa’s bid committee felt SAPO did not show an ability to “eliminate fraud and double dipping”.

“When you pay at pay points, you need to be able to pay offline as well,” Bengu said of SAPO’s “weakness”.

Sassa’s bid evaluation committee also felt the Post Office would not have the capacity to produce bank cards.

They have rather asked for an extension from the Reserve Bank for existing Sassa cards.

The Post Office has until Thursday to respond to the offer to assist Sassa with the distribution of grants.

MPs were left with more questions than answers following the conclusion of the presentation, including who would come on board to fill the other three gaps before the March 2018 deadline.

Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini was absent from the meeting.

She sent a letter to chairpersons, Rose Capa and Themba Godi, to excuse herself on Tuesday, saying she was attending a week-long “Active Agent” seminar in KwaZulu-Natal.

MPs were unhappy.

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The department was represented by acting director-general Nelisiwe Vilakazi.

Inkatha Freedom Party’s Liezl van der Merwe asked why Dlamini could not prioritise one day because they had already agreed on the date beforehand.

Democratic Alliance’s Lindy Wilson described Dlamini as “a disgrace” for not availing herself for 17 million South Africans.

Even African National Congress MP Nthabiseng Khunou said Dlamini was “out of order” for skipping the meeting on the day.

MPs questions continued on Tuesday evening.