Dlamini must explain R6 billion SASSA distribution price tag

11 May 2017

Yesterday, in a rare appearance in Parliament, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini revealed that the price tag for SASSA to take over the distribution of social grants will cost the taxpayer R6 billion.

The DA will now submit parliamentary questions to get the exact details of how Dlamini arrived at this alarming figure.

Specifically, Dlamini must provide explicit detail on the following questions:

- How did the Minister arrive at this R6 billion figure?

- Did this price tag increase because SASSA was unready to distribute social grants at the 31 March 2017 deadline, which was a crisis manufactured by Dlamini?

- What measures will the department take to ensure that its plan remains in line with the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999?

The new R6 billion figure is absolutely staggering and raises yet more alarming questions about the DA’s long-held belief that Dlamini purposefully manufactured the social grants crisis to ensure that the status quo on the multi-billion rand social grant distribution system remains, including that CPS, continues to benefit.

Dlamini is infamous for her constant evasion of accountability, but the Minister should have no problem answering the DA’s questions truthfully and on time if she has nothing to hide.

After the President’s disastrous midnight cabinet reshuffle, Dlamini somehow managed to evade the chop, this despite having so blatantly played political games with the livelihoods of 17 million South Africans.

Dlamini’s department deals with millions of the poorest people in our society, and yet, in another example of the disdain she has for the poor, she saw fit to purchase a brand new luxury vehicle worth more than R1 million. Dlamini's claim that buying an ultra-luxury vehicle was "unavoidable" is a disgrace in the face of growing poverty and unemployment in South Africa.

It is glaringly obvious that Dlamini loves feathering her nest with luxury cars and expensive hotel stays, whilst millions of our people live in absolute poverty.

The fact is that Dlamini is not fit to be a champion of the millions of vulnerable South Africans who rely on her to provide their safety net.

Issued by Bridget Masango, DA Shadow Minister of Social Development, 11 May 2017