Bathabile Dlamini’s games only stall grant pay

If Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini was as good at running her shambolic ministry as she is at playing the diversionary blame game, millions of South Africans on social grants would, undoubtedly, be better off.

The pugnacious Dlamini played the gender card this week at the parliamentary hearings into why she and her ministry have still not been able to reach an agreement for the payment of grants and pensions to be taken over from Cash Paymaster Services (CPS).

The reason the MPs – of all parties – did not believe her version of events, she claimed, was due to “patriarchy”. Not “white monopoly capital”, minister?

The reality is that Dlamini has now managed to stall the grants payment change process for going on for three years – and in the face of court orders for her to get her house in order.

Now, it seems, she cannot reach an agreement with the SA Post Office to carry out the payments – despite the fact that it has a huge infrastructure network and the necessary financial backing.

It seems odd that the process is taking so long and makes one wonder if CPS is going to get yet another “emergency” extension to its contract.