As the government goes rogue, court steps in to save the day

Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini should consider herself lucky to have been let off relatively lightly by the Constitutional Court.

Sure, she got a spanking from the eminences who described her conduct as incomprehensible and reprehensible. She may yet pay the legal costs from her own pocket. But she escaped a more serious indictment. She could have been had for contempt of court.

The saga was not merely a dereliction of duty, it was an open defiance of a judgment by the highest court. It's almost as if she regards herself as being above the law.

She could, and should, have been dragged in front of the court to explain her conduct. One could see even as judgment was passed that the justices have been left befuddled by her behaviour. Only she could have enlightened them.

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She could also have been rapped over the knuckles for her failure to meet Tuesday's deadline to answer questions sent by the court. Asked why the deadline was not met, her lawyer said something to the effect of: "Well these things happen. We'll ask for the court's condonation."

One can almost sense the court's reluctance to involve itself in a fight with the government. But it is being dragged into one by the wilful incompetence of President Jacob Zuma and his administration.

The conditions of the judgment mean the Constitutional Court will be babysitting a government department. That's an indictment. It means the court cannot trust the government to do the right thing. But don't expect Zuma or Dlamini to feel embarrassed. They're shameless.

In fact, the government's delinquent behaviour is sucking the judiciary more and more into the political arena. As the Constitutional Court was handing down its judgment on Friday, the High Court in Pretoria was declaring the appointment of Berning Ntlemeza, head of the Hawks, invalid; and the Prasa board was contesting its summary dismissal by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters. These are actions of a government that has gone rogue. It's left to the judiciary to preserve our sanity.

The grants matter should not have been allowed to come to this point. The penetrating questions posed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to Dlamini's legal representative this week should have been the sort of inquiry that she should have been subjected to by Zuma and his cabinet. Why was this tender so shoddily handled and why had nothing been done in two years to remedy the situation?

Dlamini should have been hauled over the coals, or fired, after the Constitutional Court's judgment declaring the Cash Paymaster Services contract invalid.    

Zuma neither asked such questions nor acted against her. He turned out to be Dlamini's chief apologist, pleading with the country to calm down. Maybe Dlamini is not the kingpin in this matter, but a mere courier. The buck stops with Zuma. The involvement of his trusted lieutenants - South African Revenue Service commissioner Tom Moyane and Michael Hulley, his trusted attorney - in awarding the contract to CPS, means Zuma may not be a disinterested bystander.

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There is a lot that still needs to be revealed. For instance why CPS, lacking BEE credentials, was able to win such a lucrative government contract. It seems proponents of radical economic transformation were asleep at the switch.

Payment of social grants is a huge state responsibility - second only to the economy and safety and security - especially given the extent of poverty and destitution in the country. Recipients also happen to be a loyal ANC constituency, often referred to as "our people". It's surprising therefore to see an ANC government handling an issue of life and death for its constituency with such disdain and ham-handedness.

Ironically, it was the Black Sash, an organisation often dismissed in ANC circles as a bunch of liberals, that came to the rescue - defending the rights of mainly poor black recipients against the incompetence and dereliction of duty by a black government.

ANC members who turned up in court were not there to express common cause with the poor, but to support Dlamini, the villain of the piece. Others were at the airport to welcome Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma back from Addis Ababa where her campaign to be president of South Africa has been headquartered for the past four years. It's as if she's never been away from home.

Dlamini-Zuma is no stranger to scandal, having been involved in the Sarafina debacle in the first ANC government. Corruption, it seems, is a prerequisite for higher office. Zuma's record is well known. Dlamini is a convicted fraudster, found guilty in the Travelgate saga. That wasn't a bar to promotion. She's now in charge of a department with a budget worth billions - and she's making a mighty hash of things.

Thanks to the Constitutional Court, the old, the sick and infirm will receive their pitiful handouts.

But one is left with a feeling that the miscreants have almost got off scot-free.