Over acquisition of contract by the Cash Paymaster Service (CPS), the South Africa's constitutional court is hearing a case to decide extension of contract to the CPS distributing social security grants to 17m beneficiaries.

According to Ceoafrica, the court had found two years ago that the process through which CPS acquired its contract worth billions of dollars with the department of Social Development was “unlawful”.

A decision by the court must be made today to ensure welfare grants are paid on time in April.

Lawyers for civil society groups are arguing that the minister in charge, Bathabile Dlamini, must take full responsibility for failing to find a replacement for CPS since the ruling was made in 2014.

CPS has itself said that if there is no new contract, it will not be in a position to meet the deadline of paying pensioners, child support households, the disabled, veterans and all those who are eligible to receive monthly payments for their survival.

Civil rights group, Black Sash, is asking the Constitutional Court to oversee the new contract.

The whole country is waiting with bated breath to see how this fiasco is going to be resolved and whether the minister and her team would be sanctioned by the highest court in the land for their role.