Judges talk tough in Sassa case
Dlamini asked what she did after 2014 directive
EMBATTLED Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini and the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) came in for a battering in the Constitutional Court yesterday.
If court cases were decided on the sheer volume of barbed comments directed at counsel and their clients by the presiding judges‚ advocate Andrew Breitenbach SC‚ representing Dlamini and Sassa, would probably have quit after the bruising day.
The Constitutional Court case was brought by Black Sash to ensure social grants continue to be paid to some 11 million South Africans on April 1.
It was always going to be a tough job defending Dlamini, who has come under withering public criticism over her handling of Sassa’s contract with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) to pay the grants.
The contract‚ already declared invalid by the court back in 2014‚ ends on March 31 and the judges wanted to know exactly what Dlamini had been doing since then to get Sassa’s house in order so it could take over responsibility for the payments.
Likening Dlamini’s oversight role to his own‚ Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng told Breitenbach: “If any judge sits with a judgment for six years‚ I will know… I must explain and I will be able to explain how that happened.”
It was a point he hammered home with a loaded question: “If something is done that is unconstitutional and unlawful, is it not for you to spend sleepless nights to ensure it does not happen again?”
There were plenty more from Mogoeng and his fellow judges.
Mogoeng ended his grilling with one last biting question directed at Dlamini: “I genuinely want to understand … How do you get to the level where [your clients] make themselves look like they are incompetent? How did we get to this level that can be characterised as absolute incompetence?”
Breitenbach was not the only advocate to face some difficult questions from judges.
When advocate Aslam Bava SC, representing the South African Post Office (Sapo), told the court his client was ready and able to take over grant payments‚ Mogoeng asked: “How do we take Sapo seriously if it says it needs just one month when there is not even a contract in place?”
He followed this up with a question about the Post Office’s “admirable track record in service delivery‚” prompting laughter from the public gallery.
It was also a tough day for advocate Alfred Cockrell SC‚ representing CPS. He had an uphill battle convincing judges that his client needed a new contract‚ and soon‚ if it was to pay the grants on time.
When it was suggested that the court could instruct Treasury to pay CPS the money without a contract‚ Cockrell described the idea as “extraordinary”.
Judgment was reserved. — TMG