Allegations against Bathabile Dlamini are serious and need to be tested: ConCourt

The Constitutional Court says allegations that Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini appointed work streams‚ as contained in Sassa chief executive Thokozani Magwaza’s affidavit‚ are “very serious” and will determine whether she acted in good faith or not.

“These are serious allegations. If it is correct that the minister appointed the members of the work streams and that they reported directly to her in contravention of governance protocol‚ then her failure to disclose this to the court bears strongly on whether she acted in good faith or not‚” said Justice Johan Froneman in a judgment handed down on Thursday.

The court found that it could not make an order “adverse” to Dlamini on the basis of allegations that were untested “and which she had not had an opportunity to challenge. It was argued in written submissions‚ however‚ that her own undisputed version is in itself sufficient to conclude that she acted in bad faith or‚ at the very least‚ in flagrant disregard of her statutory and constitutional obligations.”

In its ruling‚ the court found that Dlamini’s conduct regarding the work streams issue needed to be resolved before a final decision was made.

The court directed that an inquiry be set up “in order to determine the issues relating to the minister’s role and responsibility in the establishment of the work streams”.

All parties involved in the matter are to report back to court within 14 days on whether they have agreed to a process.

Thursday's Constitutional Court decision follows an earlier ruling‚ which ordered Dlamini to explain why she should not be held personally liable for legal costs incurred from an earlier application around the social grants debacle.

In her affidavit‚ Dlamini said she should not be made to pay and detailed how she had discharged her duties as minister.

She blamed Sassa officials for the grants crisis‚ but the agency's CEO‚ Thokozani Magwazi‚ and former director-general‚ Zane Dangor‚ disputed her version of events.

The Black Sash Trust approached the court in March after the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) acknowledged it would not be able to pay millions of grants from April 1‚ despite promising the court in November 2015 it would do so.

-TimesLIVE