Bathabile Dlamini misses yet another Parly committee meeting

Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini skipped a parliamentary committee on Wednesday for the second time this week.

The minister was expected to present her department’s annual strategic and budget plans to the portfolio committee on social development ahead of Parliament’s budget votes but failed to pitch up, to much criticism from MPs.

Dlamini and her deputy, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, sent their apologies to the committee, saying there had been a clash with a Cabinet meeting they had to attend on Wednesday, committee chairperson Zoleka Capa told MPs.

News24 reports that other ministers and deputies, such as Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, were present in Parliament to present to their respective portfolio committees.

Parliament’s select committee on social services cancelled its meeting on Tuesday on social development’s upcoming budget vote after both Dlamini and Bogopane-Zulu also failed to attend.

The committee had that Dlamini was attending a meeting in Pretoria, but the nature of the meeting was not disclosed.

The committee’s chairperson, Landulile Dlamini, said the minister and deputy had only appeared once before the select committee in three years.

“We are different [to portfolio committees].We call you twice, maybe four times a year. If they don’t attend, we don’t know what is happening,” she told department officials who were present.

The select committee consists of MPs from the National Council of Provinces, not the National Assembly.

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