DA won’t let ‘Dodging Dlamini’ off the hook

While a Constitutional Court judgement today found that the former minister of social development should not be held personally liable for legal costs incurred by her department over the social grants crisis, the DA is not ready to let things slide.

In a damning press release, the opposition said that while Dlamini had evaded legal responsibility, she “was ultimately politically accountable for manufacturing a crisis that put the livelihoods of 17 million South Africans at risk.”

In the press release, the party goes on to make a series of allegations, including that it “strongly believes that Dodging Dlamini purposefully created the crisis so she could benefit.”

“It seemed that she was determined to deliberately derail the entire process of SASSA procuring an alternative service provider, all in a bid to ensure that the illegal CPS contract could be extended over and over again,” the statement continues.

The DA also brought up the findings of a court case in May.

READ MORE: Bathabile Dlamini won’t have to pay back the money

“In a scathing report by Judge Ngoepe in May this year, Dlamini was described as an evasive and inconsistent witness. This is proof of her disdain for accountability and that she has no place as a member of Cabinet,” the party said.

While the party says it welcomes the finding that Sassa acting CEO Pearl Bhengu must pay the legal costs of the 2018 application seeking the extension of the illegal Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) contract, they want her fired immediately.

The DA is likely grateful that the Dlamini matter has taken attention off them, as much of this week has centred on what some have described as the party’s “crumbling coalitions” after the removal of mayor Athol Trollip and speaker Jonathan Lawack from Nelson Mandela bay on Monday.

The pair were ousted with the help of a single rogue DA member, Victor Manyati, who voted against his party.

The UDM’s Mongameli Bobani is now Nelson Mandela Bay mayor and the ANC’s Buyelwa Mafaya is the new speaker.

Many also thought Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga would face a similar fate, but he survived as the EFF motion of no confidence against him was dismissed on technical grounds and, later, a similar ANC motion was withdrawn as the person who tabled it was not present.

Both the EFF and ANC staged walk-outs of the council session.

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