Former SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) boss Thokozani Magwaza is adamant that he had not defied Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini when he worked at the agency.
Magwaza’s stance is in direct contrast to claims made by Dlamini earlier this week at the inquiry into her role in the social grants crisis.
She had said that the trouble at Sassa started when Magwaza became the chief executive.
Dlamini told the inquiry that Magwaza had threatened to terminate the workstream contracts before he even assumed the top post.
The inquiry kicked off on Monday and is a directive of the Constitutional Court. Retired Judge Bernard Ngoepe is heading the inquiry.
The Black Sash approached the court in March after Sassa acknowledged it would not be able to pay millions of social grants from April 1 2017‚ despite promising the court in November 2015 it would do so.
On Friday‚ Magwaza told the inquiry that the only thing Dlamini could possibly interpret as defiance was him not being present at Sassa meetings – meetings he missed because he was attending other meetings.
He told the inquiry that Dlamini ran Sassa “like it was her own business”.
"She would just pitch up and come without informing me. She would come when I was in other meetings. It was not to defy her.
"I worked with her. We travelled together for hours. I don’t understand why she said I was defiant and did not want to work with her. "We wanted to make sure that come sure that‚ come April 1 [2017] ‚ we would be able to pay grants."
He said that Dlamini had also threatened him with losing his job when he refused to sign a letter‚ dated December 2016‚ from Cash Paymaster Services informing Sassa that they would not administer the payment of grants if the agency did not extend their contract.
The hearings continue.
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