POLITICS LIVE: Why Bathabile Dlamini is untouchable
'By the standards of even the weakest democracy, the minister who imperiled the social grants of 17 million people would be gone'
Nothing better illustrates how patronage politics messes with delivery than the social grant fiasco. And yes, it’s a fiasco. With less than a month to go before the CPS contract to disburse the grants expires, nobody knows for sure what the plan is. By the standards of even the weakest democracy, the minister who imperiled the provision of social grants to 17 million people slap-bang in the heart of the ruling party’s constituency should have been long gone. But Bathabile Dlamini is playing a big political card right now, one that President Jacob Zuma desperately needs on the table. She is riding point for Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s campaign to succeed Zuma as president of the ANC and the country.
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