Chief justice suggests 'absolute incompetence' by Dlamini on grants
'I genuinely want to understand. How we get to this level … that can be characterised as an absolute incompetence?'
The Constitutional court has asked why Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini should not have to pay legal costs. Chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng had strong words for Dlamini‚ suggesting "absolute incompetence" and saying she did not do her job by not finding out that SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) could not pay grants sooner. Sassa told the court it would do so in November 2015 and the minister alleges she didn’t know for six months from April to October 2016 that Sassa wasn't ready to pay 11 million people 17 million grants. The court has suggested she should have been more involved‚ asking Sassa to report monthly. After hours of argument‚ Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng had one critical question for Andrew Breitenbach SC representing the department of social development: "How does one get to this position?" "I genuinely want to understand. How we get to this level … that can be characterised as an absolute incompetence?" Mogoeng asked. Earlier‚ the court had been asked to c...
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