Bathabile Dlamini appears before Sassa inquiry

The inquiry into whether Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini should be personally held liable for the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) grants payment debacle last year began this morning at the Office of the Chief Justice in Midrand, Johannesburg.

Retired judge Bernard Ngoepe was appointed by the Constitutional Court in August to lead the inquiry, said to be the first of its kind in South Africa since the dawn of democracy.

The inquiry was set up to determine issues relating to the establishment of workstreams, allegedly appointed by Dlamini, that formed parallel structures to the operations of Sassa and flouted National Treasury’s procurement rules.

The controversial workstreams were tasked with dealing with the social grants payment crisis that gripped the country last year in March when the contract of current service provider, Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), was due to expire on April 1, 2017, after the ConCourt found in 2014 the contract between CPS and Sassa was illegal.

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