Justice department processes child maintenance payment following delays due to system breach

• The Department of Justice has processed most child maintenance payments.
• There was a delay in payments due to departmental issues.
• Payments were processed on 15 September.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development says it has processed most child maintenance payments following complications in departmental systems, including MojaPay.

On Monday, the department had announced that its Information Technology system was interrupted due to a security breach, which led to a delay in maintenance payments.

"The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD) wishes to inform child maintenance beneficiaries that some functionality of the MojaPay system has been recovered and most maintenance payments have been processed," department spokesperson Steve Mahlangu said on Friday.

READ | Justice department says child maintenance payment will be delayed

The payments were made on 15 September and the money was expected to reflect in beneficiary accounts in the next few days. 

"The department wishes to extend its thanks to the Information Technology (IT) experts from the department, industry partners and selected organs of state who have been working hard to contain the problem and restore systems affected by the recent ransomware attack."

According to Mahlangu, progress had been made to contain the breach, while restoring critical services to the public. 

He added that while the department was not yet in a position to determine the exact date when all systems would be restored, it was encouraged by the progress made by the IT experts. 

He added:

All courts were expected to operate normally without any challenges related to the CRT systems. 

Mahlangu added that Masters Offices around the country continued to, as an interim measure, used a manual process to provide bereaved families, in exceptional cases, where there was a need to access funds from the deceased's banking account for burial costs.

However, no manual letters of executorship or authority would be issued during this period.

The department further apologised to all users of justice services who were negatively affected by the current system challenges. 

"The department is doing everything possible to provide as many services as possible during this period. More updates on progress in restoring the IT system will be provided as soon as they're available," Mahlangu added.