Zuma under pressure
Zuma in an awkward spot. Will he act against ally Dlamini over grants fiasco?
Party loyalists want the social development minister to be held accountable for the grants debacle, but that would force the president to act against an ally
Political pressure is mounting on President Jacob Zuma to act against social development minister Bathabile Dlamini, whom the constitutional court has blamed for the social grants fiasco that put payments to about 17m beneficiaries at risk. Even the ANC last Friday called for "consequences" for those responsible. This places Zuma in an awkward position: Dlamini is a loyal lieutenant and at the forefront of the campaign for his candidate, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to succeed him as party president. A meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) that is to take place over the weekend is set to reflect on the matter and on calls for Dlamini’s head. Already, Dlamini has appeared before the party’s integrity committee, which will report back to the NEC meeting over the weekend. The judgment was an indictment of the minister’s conduct and must have embarrassed Zuma, who a day before told parliament that SA was a "funny democracy" with a "funny legal system" because of calls to ac...
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