Dlamini's brief Scopa appearance angers MPs
The social development minister could have been subpoeaned had she not shown up to account to MPs for the Sassa crisis
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini caused outrage among MPs on Tuesday after she said she had to leave the meeting of Parliament's standing committee on public accounts to attend a Cabinet meeting. This was after giving a long explanation of about an hour about the developments leading to the current crisis regarding the payment of social grants after the contract with Net1 subsidiary Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) expires on March 31. EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi was particularly enraged by the minister's announcement, which meant MPs would not have an opportunity to ask questions. Eventually Dlamini agreed to stay for a few questions after committee chairman Themba Godi appealed to her for flexibility. The minister was called to the meeting to give a progress report on how more than R140bn in social grants to nearly 17-million beneficiaries will be paid on April 1, the day after the unlawful contract between the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and CPS expires. Go...
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