'What about pain from the mismanagement of Sassa?' — Maimane on sympathy for Dlamini's perjury verdict

Former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini received little sympathy from One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane after she was found guilty of perjury on Wednesday.

The guilty finding by Johannesburg magistrate Betty Khumalo sparked widespread reaction.

Among those weighing in on the verdict was Maimane, who responded to former ANC Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Andile Lungisa's support of Dlamini.

“Please stay strong comrade president Bathabile Dlamini. We are with you. We know your pain, this moment shall pass, you will overcome,” Lungisa tweeted. 

“What pain? The pain of perjury? Or the pain of being found guilty of perjury? asked Maimane.

“What about the pain of the grandmothers who suffered from the mismanagement of Sassa?”

Dlamini was charged with perjury after a Constitutional Court judgment in 2018 that followed an inquiry into whether she should pay costs in her personal capacity for the social grants payments debacle

She was accused of failing to ensure that Sassa was equipped to administer social grants after a contract with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) was due to expire. Millions of beneficiaries were left uncertain about whether they would receive their monthly grants.

Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Khumalo said the former minister gave false evidence under oath at the Constitutional Court inquiry. 

“I am finding that the state has succeeded to prove the main count of perjury. As such, the accused is found to have knowingly and intentionally disposed of false evidence in substance to the effect that the workstreams did not directly report to her, that she did not attend meetings of the workstreams,” said Khumalo. 

Present to support the minister were suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule, NEC member Tony Yengeni and former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo, among others. 

Dlamini's sentence will be handed down on April 1.