Outsourcing the Disbursement of Social Grants and Banking the Unbanked
Author | : Lena Sophia Gronbach |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : |
Release | : 2017 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:1163877561 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (61 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: The outsourcing of South Africa0́9s social grant payment system to Cash Paymaster Services, a private financial service provider, has been the subject of increasing public attention in recent years. In 2012, reports of unauthorized deductions from grant beneficiaries0́9 bank accounts for financial services sold by CPS0́9 sister companies emerged, and the looming grant payment crisis facing South Africa0́9s Social Security Agency (SASSA) dominated the news headlines for months in 2016 and 2017. Many observers saw these events as yet another instance of corruption and incompetence on the part of individuals in high places in government and the private sector in Africa. Such allegations have come to have a prominent place in local and international media reports about the continent, and carry the implication that the solution to the problem lies in getting rid of the guilty individuals 0́3 the 0́8bad apples0́9 0́3 who undermine an otherwise well-functioning system. This dissertation attempts to take the discussion of the social grants saga beyond this perspective, thus filling the gap between the public debate and the 0́8bigger as advocated by Prahalad0́9s 0́−Bottom of the Pyramid0́+ theory and concepts such as 0́8corporate social responsibility0́9 and 0́8financial inclusion0́9. The aim is to challenge the public perception of the social grants saga as a case of 0́8corruption and incompetence0́9 on the part of selected individuals, to make a local contribution to the global debate on the changing relationship between corporations and states, and to illustrate the detrimental effects this changing relationship can have on the poorest and most vulnerable part of the population.