1. preamble whereas the department has sought an alternative, more efficient and cost effective means to administer and operate all activities included in the automated cash payments of pensions and grants. 1. 1 the provincial tender board has approved tender no ntp8342 to the contractor and has authorised the department to enter into a service level agreement with the contractor prior to the commencement of any activities under this contract, the effective date ; 1. 2 the contractor agrees to render cash payment services to the beneficiaries of pensions and grants on behalf of the department. 1. 3 payments of pensions and grants currently made by the south african post office and banks are excluded. 1. 4 the number of beneficiaries expected to be serviced is estimated at 514 000 as at the time of preparation of the tender specification, allocated to 1 900 pay points. these quantities shall in no way be construed by the contractor as being guaranteed minimums or maximums by the department. therefore the parties wish to record in writing their agreement relating the aforementioned and matters incidental thereto. 2. interpretation and definitions in this agreement and in the annexures hereto. 2. 1 clause headings are for convenience and are not to be used in their interpretation ; 2. 2 unless the context indicates a contrary intention, but not limited to, an expression which denotes ; 2. 2. 1 any gender includes the other gender ; 2. 2. 2 a natural person includes a juristic person and vice versa ; 2. 2. 3 the singular includes the plural and vice versa ; account ” means interest bearing smart card based account which does not require the maintenance of any minimum balance therein and free of any bank charges or costs, opened by the contractor in the name of each grant beneficiary. “ afis ” means automated fingerprint identification system. “ act ” means social assistance act 1992 ( act 59 of 1992 ) as amended. “ biometric identification ” means the identification of a person by using automated fingerprint identification ( afis ) computer technology to identify each beneficiary. “ biometric verification ” means the verification of each beneficiary at the pay points by using computer technology to verify the relationship between a beneficiary and his / her fingerprints already captured previously during bulk enrolment. “ biometric identification and verification software and procedures ” means the procedures that are used to verify that a beneficiary ’ s or procurator ’ s fingerprints