Day of reckoning for perjurer Bathabile Dlamini as court decides whether she will be jailed or fined

01 April 2022 - 06:41 By TIMESLIVE
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Bathabile Dlamini will on Friday find out whether she will be jailed for lying under oath.
Bathabile Dlamini will on Friday find out whether she will be jailed for lying under oath.
Image: Thapelo Morebudi

ANC Women’s League  (ANCWL) members were on Friday expected to descend on the Johannesburg magistrate’s court where their leader, convicted perjurer and former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini, is due to be sentenced.

While Dlamini’s lawyer had pleaded with the court to be lenient on her, it remained to be seen whether the court would be merciful and give her a fine or suspended sentence instead of sending her to prison.

Dlamini was convicted of perjury last month, with magistrate Betty Khumalo saying she was satisfied Dlamini had in her written statement and oral testimony given false evidence under oath at an inquiry instituted by the Constitutional Court

“I am finding the state has succeeded in proving 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 work streams did not directly report to her, that she did not attend meetings of the work streams,” said Khumalo.

Dlamini, who in her last court appearance was supported by the ANC’s suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule, former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo and national executive committee member Tony Yengeni,   appeared to be in disbelief after Khumalo’s judgment.

She had been charged with perjury following a ConCourt judgment in 2018 after an inquiry into whether she should pay costs in her personal capacity for the social grants payments debacle.

One of the issues investigated by the inquiry, which was headed by retired Gauteng judge president Bernard Ngoepe, was whether Dlamini had appointed work streams of the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) to ensure Sassa could take over the payment of social grants from Cash Paymaster Services.

The ConCourt said the inquiry found Dlamini appointed individuals to lead the parallel work streams and those individuals reported to her. The work streams were supposed to report to the Sassa executive committee, not to the minister.

Dlamini denied lying under oath when she said the workstreams did not report to her..

However, Khumalo said all evidence pointed to workstreams reporting to her.

Ahead of her sentencing, Dlamini’s lawyer had pleaded with the court to be lenient on Dlamini, who was said to only earn R110,000 a month which she used to take care of her immediate and extended family. She told the court she received a R40,000 monthly pension payment from parliament as a former MP and R70,000 from the ANCWL. 

Tshepiso Mphahlane, for Dlamini, said  the 59-year-old single mother of two may soon see an end to the R70,000 pay cheque because this was not a permanent position. With the league’s conference scheduled for June. Mpahlane said she may or may not be re-elected.

Prosecutor Matthew Rampyapedi had lobbied for direct imprisonment.

“When one looks at the position of the accused, a former minister at national level, if this kind of offence can be perpetuated at that level, what then should become of people down there? At the pinnacle of this offence is accountability. We expect a certain standard of honesty from our public servants,” he said.

He slammed the defence downplaying the offence.

“If you begin to trivialise this offence, and say it’s‘ just perjury’, we will be making a mockery of our justice system. It is therefore imperative the public see the justice system in action, especially in cases such as this,” he said.

The prosecution argued that Dlamini’s sentence ought to set a precedent to all public servants and office bearers.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.