Dlamini faces a roasting in court this week

South Africans are likely to witness a similiar scenario to that of the Constitutional Court judgment on Nkandla when Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini answers for the controversy surrounding payouts of social grants, according to a political analyst.

Last week, the Constitutional Court requested Dlamini to appear to answer questions amid reports that verbal consensus has been reached for a new contract between Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) and the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa).

Sassa filed court papers in the Constitutional Court last week, saying the agency wanted to use CPS services from April 1, 2017, to March 30, 2018. In 2014, the Constitutional Court invalidated the contract with CPS, as it was the result of a flawed procurement process.

But it suspended the ruling for the duration of the deal so that grant payments would not be disrupted.

Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, Elvis Masoga said the Constitutional Court would on Wednesday likely repeat the scenario where the chief justice came out strongly against President Jacob Zuma during the Nkandla ruling.

“What we are going to witness on Wednesday is just a change of names, but the same Nkandla judgment is likely to be rehearsed, with Dlamini enduring the harshest criticism, because the greatest danger to any constitutional democracy is when a government leader undermines a court ruling.

“Government was given more than two years by the Constitutional Court to remedy the situation.

“Criticism is also likely to be reserved for Zuma, because, as leader of government, he did nothing to ensure that the judgment was respected and upheld,” Masoga added.

“The social grants saga shows two government leaders – Zuma and Dlamini – colluding against constitutional supremacy,” he said.

“This whole fiasco smells of corruption. Why are people so overprotective of an invalid contract?” Masoga asked.

Commenting on why the social grants issue had been left unresolved until this late, Masoga said Sassa’s last-minute application to the Constitutional Court last week, in which it requested negotiations with CPS to continue, was an act of blackmail by government, using the 17 million grant beneficiaries.

“Government was aware that the banks had made it clear they would need some time to take over the payments of grants, while Treasury said it did not have the capacity to carry out the payments.

“Therefore, the Constitutional Court will have to choose between 17 million beneficiaries or the rule of law,” Masoga said. Recently, Zuma again called for calm on the issue.

He said two ministers had been instructed to work on the matter to ensure that all beneficiaries received their grants, come April 1.

“That’s why I’m saying ‘cool down’ as a country,” Zuma said.

– stevent@citizen.co.za

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