Dlamini responsible for social grants crisis, says Constitutional Court
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini is responsible for the social grants crisis, the Constitutional Court said on Friday. Justice Johan Froneman, reading the judgment in the Black Sash’s application to have the Court’s oversight role over the contract between the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) for the payment of social grants, said the minister bore the primary responsibility to ensure that the agency fulfilled its function. She appointed the CEO and there was little he could do without her direction. Froneman said attempts to obtain evidence of what steps Dlamini had taken to ensure that beneficiaries would continue to be catered for, “drew a blank”. “The office holder ultimately responsible for the crisis and the events that led to it is the person who holds executive political office. “It is the minister who is required in terms of the Constitution to account to Parliament. That is the minister, and the minister alone,” he...
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