Sassa millions ‘heist’ in Rosebank underground car park

Explosive allegations have emerged about how millions of rands in cash meant for social welfare grants allegedly changed hands in an underground parking lot and were put in the boots of cars at the Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) offices in Rosebank, Johannesburg.

The shocking claim was revealed in an affidavit deposed by a former senior security officer at Fidelity Services Group (FSG).

Cash in car boots

FSG was the company appointed to secure the movement of money from depots and banks to social grant pay points nationwide.

The officer previously submitted an affidavit to the Zondo commission in 2020, but was not investigated at the time, according to The Sunday Times.

In his affidavit, the FG officer disclosed how he and his colleagues collected and delivered cash to Nanda Pillay, who was COO of CPS at the time and went into the boots of two vehicles — one of them Pillay’s BMW.

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Suspicions

The alleged movement of the cash in private vehicles and lack of paperwork raises suspicions that the money was being stolen to benefit individuals who worked for CPS or were linked to the company in other ways, the Sunday Times alluded.

There is no suggestion that Fidelity or its CEO, Wahl Bartmann, benefited from this cash.

CPS was one of three companies the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) appointed to pay social grants in cash at pay points across the country. FSG was appointed to transport and secure all the cash.

“Mr Wahl Bartmann was the person who instructed me personally via telephone to execute the collections and drop-offs, after which I chose the teams for each collection and drop,” the officer said in the affidavit.

“It was during 2010 that I made my concerns clear to Wahl that I am uncomfortable with being involved in the cash drops to Nanda without any paperwork, and that it is at least in contravention of the South African Reserve Bank codes and regulations in respect of handling or transporting cash.”

The Citizen contacted Bartman for comment. This will be added once received.

Pillay’s response

According to the paper, FSG declined to respond to specific allegations in the affidavits

A source with direct knowledge of the affidavits and the investigations said the former Fidelity employee’s account was important in uncovering the potential looting of state money meant for the poor.

Pillay told the paper the cash was often delivered to CPS offices as the company had an automated teller machine to allow cash disbursements, but he denied that any of the cash ended up in his car.

“I have no idea what this guy is talking about, and I am not even sure who he is.”

Social grant costing taxpayers

In October The Citizen reported that social grants cost taxpayers over R250 billion a year.

The amount was revealed by Sassa CEO Busisiwe Memela while tabling the agency’s 2023/2024 annual report before the Portfolio Committee on Social Development in Parliament.

She said 45% of the country’s population benefits from social grants, with the majority being in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Eastern Cape.

Recipients

The core clients are those who receive the old age pension, child support grant, care dependency grant, war veteran’s grant, disability grant, and foster child grant.

There are nine million SRD recipients, while 19 million people make up the agency’s core clients. In total, the agency has at least 28 million beneficiaries who are serviced by 7.4 million taxpayers.

Social grants for core clients cost the agency at least R200 billion, and when the SRD is included, the agency disperses grants amounting to at least R250 billion. 

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