March 15, 207.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines:

Post Office says it can prevent a grants payment crisis

UN says South Sudan and the AU are stalling on human rights court 

And, Maine says it is the ANC Youth League’s responsibility to bring back all the organisation's ”prodigal children” 

The South African Post Office (or Sapo) has officially joined the scramble to replace Cash Paymaster Services (or CPS) as the country's social grants distributor amid an ongoing crisis over the payment of the country’s millions of beneficiaries.

Sapo CEO Mark Barnes has submitted an affidavit dated March 13 to the Constitutional Court as part of Sapo's application to be admitted as a friend of the court in the Black Sash vs the South Africa Social Security Agency matter due to be heard today.

Department of Social Development entity, Sassa, is under more pressure to find a solution after CPS said it would not be able to pay social grants from April 1 if an agreement was not reached tomorrow.

 

The African Union (or AU) and South Sudan are failing in their joint responsibility to set up a court to prosecute atrocities in the East African country and are not cooperating with a United Nations inquiry, a UN investigator said yesterday.

A member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, Kenneth Scott, told the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva that there was no reason to be hopeful that the two parties would set up the promised robust hybrid court any time soon, if ever.

 

African National Congress Youth League president Collen Maine says he supports calls for former members to return to the party to make the ANC strong again.

He said they had a responsibility to lure people back to the movement, including people like ousted Western Cape ANC office holder Marius Fransman and EFF leader Julius Malema.

His comments came just days after Mpumalanga chairperson David Mabuza told the youth league in his province that he would bring back the former leader. Malema was expelled from the ruling party in 2012, setting up the EFF, and he launches regular political attacks against under fire ANC President Jacob Zuma.

 

Also making headlines:

Speaker tells Communications Minister Faith Muthambi he cannot overrule SABC report.

And, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini and Sassa deny missing second ConCourt deadline.

 

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today