BENEFICIARIES HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW

MINISTER of Social Development Susan Shabangu, I ask that you provide a report about the impact of former minister Bathabile Dlamini’s mismanagement to the Western Cape. Let the public know what steps you and your department will take to remedy this mismanagement.

Minister, as you should know, mismanagement and corruption have a spiralling effect. In the Western Cape, where 1.5 million people depend on social grants. If Sassa is mismanaged, grant recipients won’t receive their stipends. Grandmothers and single mothers will not be able to buy food. Children will go hungry and their access to opportunities, such as education, will be denied.

The mismanagement is shown by the case brought by Black Sash and Freedom Under Law against the former minister. The inquiry probed whether she had appointed individuals to report directly to her; and why she didn’t share this information with the court.

The Constitutional Court ruled that Dlamini is personally liable for 20% of the court costs, which could see her pay up to R1 million. Minister Shabangu, given the extent of the rot caused in your department, the people of the Western Cape and South Africa need to know how what steps your department will take to address this.

In 2017, the auditor-general found Dlamini spent R3.5m on private security for her children – another indication of the scant regard for the worst-off.

If these examples of corruption and mismanagement are not enough, allow me to indulge you. Dlamini’s corruption was again demonstrated by the Pretoria High Court judgment that Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) would have to repay R316m, with interest, to Sassa. Judge Moroa Tsoka’s ruling came after Corruption Watch approached the court in 2015, stating that in 2014 CPS charged Sassa for grant beneficiaries not in the books. Such corruption and mismanagement puts millions of grant beneficiaries at risk. LORRAINE BOTHA, MPP