No more excuses about Bathabile Dlamini, Mr President

When President Cyril Ramaphosa took office and announced his Cabinet appointees, there was incredulity that he continued with the services of the controversial social development minister, Bathabile Dlamini, at whose door the blame could be laid for the social grants payments fiasco.

Ramaphosa appointed her to the Presidency, as minister responsible for women, seemingly giving her renewed political life.

However, at the time of the appointment, there were voices which speculated that Ramaphosa would have had both negative and positive motivations for retaining Dlamini. On the negative side is the fact that, despite the changing of the guard at the ANC’s electoral conference in December last year, the Jacob Zuma faction (of which Dlamini is a pillar) is far from being destroyed. Also, she still enjoys considerable support in the influential Women’s League of the ANC. So he had to tread carefully.

On the other hand, the optimistic spin on Ramaphosa’s decision was that he was biding his time, giving Dlamini enough of the proverbial rope to hang herself politically.

After this week’s Constitutional Court judgment against Dlamini, we wonder if Ramphosa is going to help tighten that political noose.

The court so disapproved of her conduct in various legal delaying actions around the payment system for social grants, that it ordered her to pay, from her own pocket, 20% of the costs of the Black Sash and Freedom Under Law, the organisations which forced her to court in an effort to get justice for impoverished and suffering grant recipients.

Not only that, the highest court in the land opined that she had misled it – and directed that a copy of the judgment be sent to the National Prosecuting Authority to investigate whether she committed perjury.

You cannot have a minister who is accused of lying to a court, Mr President.

Now you have no excuse …

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