The Centre for Applied Legal Studies, on behalf of the Black Sash Trust, is...launching an application to the Constitutional Court. The application asks the Court to compel the Minister of Social Development and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to take necessary measures to ensure that the social grants system and its beneficiaries are protected when the contract between SASSA and Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) comes to an end on 31 March 2017...The Black Sash Trust therefore is asking the Court to ensure that:

• the continued relationship with CPS is based on terms not harmful to, or exploitative of, the grant system and its beneficiaries;
• the personal data of beneficiaries is owned by SASSA; and
• such data is kept confidential and not used for marketing purposes targeting grant beneficiaries

We can only hope to avoid more harm by ensuring that the contract going forward is not negotiated on terms only favourable to CPS and instead protects the constitutional rights of the people it is meant to benefit.