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Ngoepe Report final straw: ‘Dodging’ Bathabile Dlamini must go

Retired Judge Bernard Ngoepe’s scathing report into former Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini’s, testimony during the Inquiry into her role in the 2017 social grants debacle, is proof that President Cyril Ramaphosa must fire Dodging Dlamini without delay.

Judge Ngoepe found that the Minister was evasive in her answering of questions and found that:

  • Dlamini simply would not answer some of the questions posed to her;
  • Unjustifiably answered ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t remember’ to important questions;
  • Answered questions with questions;
  • Gave long answers that did not relate to the question asked; and
  • At one stage the Judge “even questioned whether the interpreter had correctly conveyed a question‚ but he had no doubt that Dlamini had understood the question given her command of English”.

The Minister’s testimony was a clear display of her disdain and utter disrespect of Judge Ngoepe and the Constitutional Court’s authority.

It was under Dlamini’s watch that the livelihoods of 17 million South Africans were endangered and it was also under her watch that operations at the South African Social Security Agency completely deteriorated.

Minister Dlamini has time and again proven that she is incapable of governing a department and continuously failed in delivering on her mandate of protecting the most vulnerable in our society. She should never have been appointed Minister of Women in the Presidency.

President Ramaphosa can no longer run around this issue and must do the right thing. Judge Ngoepe’s findings combined with her dismal track record is sufficient grounds for her to be fired from Cabinet.

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DA opposes R10 bank charges for social grants beneficiaries

The DA is concerned about SASSA’s revelations in Parliament yesterday that beneficiaries who receive their grants through ATMs will have to pay R10 in bank charges from 1 April 2018.

These charges will affect 5.4 million beneficiaries, who are among the poorest and vulnerable in our society.

These bank charges are due to SASSA not having a contract in place with Grindrod Bank. As a result, the Bank will deduct R10 in bank charges in order to maintain its accounts with SASSA.

The reality is that for the millions of South Africans who live in poverty, a R10 makes a huge difference. It is unfair that the poor have to suffer because of the chronic mismanagement, poor planning and instability at SASSA.

The truth is that if SASSA had its house in order the payment of social grants would have run smoothly. Instead, we have a situation where there are constant chaos and confusion and a clear lack of decisive leadership.

This reiterates the DA’s calls that an urgent Parliamentary Inquiry has to be instituted into the governance issues at the agency.

The chaos at SASSA can only be blamed on former Social Development Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, who constantly meddled in the affairs of the agency.

The DA will continue to push for a Parliamentary Inquiry into SASSA, as it is evident that her replacement, Minister Susan Shabangu, does not have the political will to restore good governance practices at SASSA.

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No ‘New Dawn’ for SASSA under Shabangu as millions may not receive their grants

Confusion seems to be the order of the day, as SASSA told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Social Development that new service provider for cash payment would only be ready in July. The agency also admitted today that it still does not have any feasible contingency plans in place in the event the Constitutional Court declines an extension of the illegal CPS contract.
This completely contradicts announcements made at a press conference last week by SASSA CEO, Pearl Bhengu, that there were in fact plans in place for cash payments come the April 1st deadline.
It is now clear, however, that there are no plans in place and that Bhengu was less than truthful when she addressed the nation.
The reality is that there are two weeks left until the illegal CPS contract expires and SASSA, the agency responsible for social security, have no plans in place to ensure that the 2.8 million grants recipients who receive cash payments every month receive their grants without interruptions.
What’s even more concerning is that Social Development Minister, Susan Shabangu, has not said a single word regarding this impending debacle. This points to her not having the political will, nor the appetite, to sort out the mess left behind by her predecessor, Minister Bathabile Dlamini.
Her silence speaks volumes about her interest in the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable.
It is evident that no one at SASSA and at the Department of Social Development seems to know what they are doing and how to prevent another social grants fiasco.
The public, and most importantly the 2.8 million grant recipients who depend on cash payment every month, needs answers as time is rapidly running out.
SASSA is once again holding a gun to the heads of the Constitutional Court and the South African public to push this illegal CPS contract down our throats.

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DA shows that R410 child grant is not enough to give poor children proper nutrition

Please find attached isiZulu and English soundbites by the DA Shadow Minister of Social Development, Bridget Masango MP. Please also find pictures here, here, here and here.  
Today, the DA went shopping in Tembisa to determine whether the R410 child grant is truly enough to provide poor children with the basic nutritional foods they need for a month.
This follows the announcement last week by the former Finance Minister, Malusi Gigaba, that VAT will increase from 14% to 15%. It was also announced that the child support grant would increase from R380 to R400 on 1 April, and to R410 on 1 October.
The DA has opposed this VAT increase because it is anti-poor. Minister Gigaba’s absurd argument that the vulnerable would be protected through “zero-rating basic food items and above average increases in grants” proves that he has no idea how poor people in our country struggle each and every day just to put food on the table.
According to the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PASCA) basket, poor mothers tend to buy 38 items of food which include more Vatable goods than zero-rated foods. This essentially means that the above-inflation grants increases to supposedly ‘combat’ the VAT increase, is just not enough.
The DA showed that the R410 child grant is not sustainable, as we were only able to buy some items, including, 1kg chicken, 5kg maize meal, 250g tea, 2 packets of soup, 2.5kg sugar, 2.5kg cake flour, 2l cooking oil, 2kg rice, 2 cans pilchards, 2 of mixed vegetables, 2.5kg samp and 1kg brown beans. This is not even enough to fill young tummies for a month, let alone fill a trolley, and it excluded some basic essentials children need.
The reality is that in many cases, the child support grant is not only needed to fill a child’s basic dietary needs alone but is also used to fund transport fees, school expenses, clothing and other household essentials.
South Africa’s child malnutrition level currently stands at an alarming 27% and every day 4 children die due to severe acute malnutrition-related causes.
Our social services require urgent intervention and that would require decisive leadership from the new Minister of Social Development, Susan Shabangu. Currently, there is still a lot of chaos and confusion regarding the distribution of social grants.
Shabangu’s first order of business must be to call an urgent meeting between all the role-players involved in the social grants crisis to find a solution to this crisis. The Minister must now step up to fix the mess left by her predecessor, Bathabile “Dodging” Dlamini.
Instead of politicking with the livelihoods of the 17 million poor South Africans who depend on social grants every month, the DA urges the Minister to make the vulnerable the first priority of government.

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Ramaphosa’s new cabinet will serve the ANC, not South Africa

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of his new cabinet this evening illustrates that the problem in our nation lies with the ANC itself. The ministers who make up Ramaphosa’s compromised and partially captured cabinet show what we’ve known all along – it’s about the ANC and connected cadres first, and the interests of South Africa second. The cabinet remains filled with compromised ministers, Gupta loyalists, and corruption accused. The quicker we remove the ANC from government, the quicker our nation will reach its true potential.

The decision to retain the bloated, oversized cabinet means Ramaphosa has failed to seize this first opportunity to cut the size of cabinet. We should not have to wait for a review study to cut the waste. If Ramaphosa cut the cabinet to 15 ministries, we could have saved billions of rands and avoided a VAT hike altogether.

Tonight we saw the fatal compromise Cyril Ramaphosa made at Nasrec exposed for all to see, as David Mabuza will be sworn in as the Deputy President of South Africa. Ramaphosa’s decision to side with scandal-ridden Mabuza undermines the integrity of his stated commitment to fight corruption and rebuild from the tatters of the Zuma decade.

There is no doubt that David Mabuza is unfit to be the Deputy President of South Africa. During his two decades in office, he has been at the centre of a string of controversies – ranging from blatant corruption to violent thuggery.

It is terrifying that Mabuza has been accused of creating his own personal fiefdom in Mpumalanga, where he ruled with terror and intimidation. He has been accused of having his own personal “military” which have allegedly been responsible for numerous political killings in Mpumalanga. The victims of the killings have for the most part been those who have spoken out against the vast corruption in Mpumalanga, or have posed a threat to his business interests. Mabuza is a serious threat to the political stability of our country and seems to have very little tolerance for opposition.

His appointment as Deputy President is a danger to our country, and flies in the face of Ramaphosa’s commitment to “turn the tide of corruption in our public institutions”.

It was expected that Ramaphosa would fire Zuma loyalists who fall within the opposing faction of the ANC. It would have been strange if he didn’t. These include Faith Muthambi, Mosebenzi Zwane, Des van Rooyen, David Mahlobo, Lynne Brown and Bongani Bongo. We welcome the decision to fire these ministers, who all lent a helping hand in selling our country to the Guptas.

The appointment of Malusi Gigaba as Home Affairs Minister means there remains a Gupta-friendly, captured Minister in the cabinet, who has been found to have lied under oath by a court of law. Cyril Ramphosa ought to have fired Gigaba, who back when he was Public Enterprises Minister, began the project of state capture at our SOEs.

The retention of Bathabile Dlamini in cabinet as Minister of Women in the President is an insult to the 17 million South Africans whose livelihood was, and still is, at risk due to her bungling of the SASSA social grants crisis. It is also an insult to the women of South Africa.

And lastly, the appointment of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as a Minister in the Presidency rewards an individual who was prepared to continue  and advance Jacob Zuma’s state capture project if elected ANC President.

Amid these concerning appointments, there are a few positive inclusions. The appointment of Pravin Gordhan as Minister of Public Enterprises is a sound one, and we do hope he will lead the charge in rooting out the rot within our State-Owned Entities (SOEs).

Nhlanhla Nene’s return as Finance Minister must be welcomed. Nene’s first action as finance minister must be to reverse the increase in VAT and transport levies, and introduce a range of spending cuts to plug the deficit in our public finances.

South Africans will quickly begin to see the wood from the trees, and that Cyril Ramaphosa is beholden to the very ANC factions that protected Jacob Zuma for a decade, and brought our country and the economy to its knees. Cyril Ramaphosa cannot bring total change and a new beginning to South Africa, as it is the ANC who he answers to, not the people.

In the ANC, it is not about who is best suited and qualified for the job. The primary criteria is always the   maintenance of patronage networks and power pacts. That is why our nation will never reach its full potential for as long as the ANC is in power.

We need real change, and this change will only come by removing the ANC from national government in 2019.

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Ramaphosa's new cabinet will serve the ANC, not South Africa

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of his new cabinet this evening illustrates that the problem in our nation lies with the ANC itself. The ministers who make up Ramaphosa’s compromised and partially captured cabinet show what we’ve known all along – it’s about the ANC and connected cadres first, and the interests of South Africa second. The cabinet remains filled with compromised ministers, Gupta loyalists, and corruption accused. The quicker we remove the ANC from government, the quicker our nation will reach its true potential.
The decision to retain the bloated, oversized cabinet means Ramaphosa has failed to seize this first opportunity to cut the size of cabinet. We should not have to wait for a review study to cut the waste. If Ramaphosa cut the cabinet to 15 ministries, we could have saved billions of rands and avoided a VAT hike altogether.
Tonight we saw the fatal compromise Cyril Ramaphosa made at Nasrec exposed for all to see, as David Mabuza will be sworn in as the Deputy President of South Africa. Ramaphosa’s decision to side with scandal-ridden Mabuza undermines the integrity of his stated commitment to fight corruption and rebuild from the tatters of the Zuma decade.
There is no doubt that David Mabuza is unfit to be the Deputy President of South Africa. During his two decades in office, he has been at the centre of a string of controversies – ranging from blatant corruption to violent thuggery.
It is terrifying that Mabuza has been accused of creating his own personal fiefdom in Mpumalanga, where he ruled with terror and intimidation. He has been accused of having his own personal “military” which have allegedly been responsible for numerous political killings in Mpumalanga. The victims of the killings have for the most part been those who have spoken out against the vast corruption in Mpumalanga, or have posed a threat to his business interests. Mabuza is a serious threat to the political stability of our country and seems to have very little tolerance for opposition.
His appointment as Deputy President is a danger to our country, and flies in the face of Ramaphosa’s commitment to “turn the tide of corruption in our public institutions”.
It was expected that Ramaphosa would fire Zuma loyalists who fall within the opposing faction of the ANC. It would have been strange if he didn’t. These include Faith Muthambi, Mosebenzi Zwane, Des van Rooyen, David Mahlobo, Lynne Brown and Bongani Bongo. We welcome the decision to fire these ministers, who all lent a helping hand in selling our country to the Guptas.
The appointment of Malusi Gigaba as Home Affairs Minister means there remains a Gupta-friendly, captured Minister in the cabinet, who has been found to have lied under oath by a court of law. Cyril Ramphosa ought to have fired Gigaba, who back when he was Public Enterprises Minister, began the project of state capture at our SOEs.
The retention of Bathabile Dlamini in cabinet as Minister of Women in the President is an insult to the 17 million South Africans whose livelihood was, and still is, at risk due to her bungling of the SASSA social grants crisis. It is also an insult to the women of South Africa.
And lastly, the appointment of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as a Minister in the Presidency rewards an individual who was prepared to continue  and advance Jacob Zuma’s state capture project if elected ANC President.
Amid these concerning appointments, there are a few positive inclusions. The appointment of Pravin Gordhan as Minister of Public Enterprises is a sound one, and we do hope he will lead the charge in rooting out the rot within our State-Owned Entities (SOEs).
Nhlanhla Nene’s return as Finance Minister must be welcomed. Nene’s first action as finance minister must be to reverse the increase in VAT and transport levies, and introduce a range of spending cuts to plug the deficit in our public finances.
South Africans will quickly begin to see the wood from the trees, and that Cyril Ramaphosa is beholden to the very ANC factions that protected Jacob Zuma for a decade, and brought our country and the economy to its knees. Cyril Ramaphosa cannot bring total change and a new beginning to South Africa, as it is the ANC who he answers to, not the people.
In the ANC, it is not about who is best suited and qualified for the job. The primary criteria is always the   maintenance of patronage networks and power pacts. That is why our nation will never reach its full potential for as long as the ANC is in power.
We need real change, and this change will only come by removing the ANC from national government in 2019.

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DA calls for urgent sitting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Social Security as 1 April deadline approaches

Please find attached soundbites in isiZulu and English by DA Shadow Minister of Social Development, Bridget Masango MP.
The latest release of a report by the panel of experts appointed to oversee SASSA’s readiness to take over the distribution of social grants paints an alarming picture of chaos and confusion at the agency.
With little over a month left until the South African Post Office (SAPO) is set to take over the distribution of social grants on 1 April 2018, there are still more questions than answers.
The DA will now write to the Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Comprehensive Social Security, Minister Jeff Radebe, to request that he convenes an urgent meeting of all the relevant stakeholders including CPS. The DA’s previous request to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, for such a meeting at Parliament, has gone unanswered.
In its report, the panel of experts have made damning revelations of a breakdown in the relationship between SAPO and SASSA. The report has also found that SASSA and SAPO’s obligation in terms of their service agreement are not being met and that parts of the service agreement will not be implemented or implementable on 1 April 2018.
Furthermore, the report has also found that CPS is reluctant to extend its illegal existing contract as requested by SASSA. With no current alternative to CPS and SASSA’s failure to find a second service provider, it is ultimately the grants recipients who will be left stranded should an urgent solution not be found.
Thanks to the poor planning and lack of urgency from SASSA, it is clear that we have another social grants crisis at hand.
The blame for the chaos at SASSA should be squarely placed at the feet of Minister Bathabile Dlamini – who has played a central part in this self-created crisis. The Minister seems to be bent on ensuring that CPS continues with the distribution of social grants, and has used every trick in the book to derail SAPO from taking over.
With rumours of a possible Cabinet reshuffle on the cards, Bathabile Dlamini should be the first one to get the boot. However, simply removing her is not enough, she must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
The DA also note that the Constitutional Court has granted CPS’s request to participate in SASSA’s future tender processes. Although CPS has been involved in dodgy dealings with SASSA and illegal deductions of grants, we must respect the Constitutional Court’s ruling and we hope that the tender process will be transparent and open.

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Dlamini must sprint out of office, like she sprinted out of ANC caucus, following another CPS extension

The DA notes reports today that SASSA has approached the Constitutional Court to request a six month extension of its illegal cash payment contract with CPS.
This latest request is proof that Social Development Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, is yet again attempting to frustrate SASSA’s process of finding an alternative and legal service provider.
CPS has been responsible for the parasitic and illegal deductions which see some pensioners go home with as little as R100 of their grants every month. We cannot allow that our people are once again subjected to such unethical and immoral behaviour.
The Minister’s ineptitude and dodgy intentions have brought us yet another impending self-created social grants crisis. She has dragged her feet and frustrated SASSA’s entire procurement process.
We have less than two months left until the end of the illegal CPS contract, and the poor and vulnerable are once again facing an anxious and uncertain future.
Dodging Dlamini must use the same energy she used to sprint out of the ANC’s Caucus meeting today, to sprint out of public office for good. She has time and again proven that she does not have the interest of our people at heart.

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DA requests Dlamini and SAPO to appear before Parliament following Mark Barnes allegations

The DA will write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, Ms Rosemary Capa, to request that she invite Social Development Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, the South African Post Office (SAPO), SASSA and all the Ministers on the Inter-ministerial Committee on Social Services, to urgently appear before Parliament.

This follows fresh allegations from SAPO CEO, Mr Mark Barnes, accusing the Minister of being “nonresponsive and causing delays” in the SAPO’s process of taking over social grants payments from SASSA. Some of Barnes’ accusations include:

  • “Delaying the design of the SASSA card and the specifications of the corporate holding and special disbursement accounts”;
  • “Not cooperating in the finalisation of the biometric engine and integrated grant payment system”; and
  • “Introducing a new workstream”.

These allegations do not surprise the DA, as we have long held that the Minister purposefully bungled SASSA’s efforts to procure an alternative service provider to CPS.

The Minister seems determined to cause yet another social grants crisis in what seems to be an attempt to ensure the continuation of the illegal CPS contract.

With just two months left, the Minister, SASSA and government should be ensuring that the SAPO is ready to pay out social grants, instead of frustrating SAPO’s readiness to take on this mammoth endeavour. 17 million South Africans depend on social grants, and we simply cannot afford any attempts to frustrate this process.

Parliament must now intervene to hold Minister Dlamini accountable and to ensure that the millions of beneficiaries who depend on social grants receive these on the 1st April 2018.

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Minister Dlamini must account for alleged R500 000 paid to SABC for “fluff” interview

The revelations today that the Department of Social Development (DSD) allegedly paid the SABC a whopping R500 000 to do a fluff interview with Minister Bathabile Dlamini are astounding. This was allegedly in an attempt to improve the Minister’s already tarnished reputation.

If these allegations are true, the Minister must personally pay back the money.

The R500 000 could have paid more than 300 social grants. It is shocking that the DSD had the audacity to supposedly use public money for an interview. The DSD is mandated to serve the poor, needy and vulnerable within our society, it is not mandated to use taxpayers’ money to make floundering Ministers look good.

Instead of improving her tarnished image, the Minister should be focussing on ensuring a smooth transition when the PostBank finally takes over the electronic payment of social grants on February 1, 2018.

The DA will now submit a range of Parliamentary questions to get to the bottom of this likely abuse of taxpayers’ money. The public deserves to know if the DSD did indeed pay for the interview. If that is the case the Minister must pay back the money personally.

It is clear that Minister Dlamini, like the rest of the ruling ANC, has lost touch with reality, the reality that 17 million South Africans depend on social grants.

The DA has long called for ‘Dodging’ Dlamini to be axed from the DSD. Instead of accounting to Parliament, the Minister chose to instead account to a talk show. The interview was nothing more than a fluff piece which cannot negate the damage Dlamini has done.