Pearl Bhengu appointed interim Sassa CEO

Regional executive manager of the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) Pearl Bhengu on Tuesday was appointed the acting CEO of the grants agency, the department of social development said on Wednesday.

“The Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, met with the staff of SASSA today, [Wednesday, July 19], and announced that Ms Pearl Bhengu, who has been serving as the Sassa Regional Manager in KwaZulu-Natal since 2012 will be the interim CEO of the Agency,” the department said in a statement.

The appointment of Bhengu follows the resignation of the agency’s former acting CEO, Thokozani Magwaza, on Monday, who stepped down after he mutually agreed to terminate his employment contract with Minister Dlamini.

Magwaza’s resignation came amid reports that he was being pressured to accept an exit package and that his life was under threat after he cancelled controversial workstream contracts worth R47 million on June 29, which were allegedly set up by Dlamini during the social grants payment debacle and were declared to be irregular by National Treasury.

Dlamini had partly blamed him and former social development director-general Zane Dangor for the social grants debacle earlier this year in March, which ultimately saw her and the ministry slammed by the Constitutional Court.

“The minister stated that the first priority of the Acting CEO is to stabilise the Agency and to ensure that it focuses on its Constitutional mandate of administering and paying social grants in line with the SASSA Act,” the statement added.

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