South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday he was “fairly confident” social security payments will be paid on April 1 despite a service-provider dispute that has cast doubt over the welfare benefits.

“I am fairly confident grants will be paid,” Gordhan told parliament’s public accounts committee.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is scrambling to ensure that as many as 17 million people continue to receive their money, despite concerns that retaining the existing service provider is both unlawful and costly.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia)