Four of the scandals that tainted former minister Bathabile Dlamini

12 June 2019 - 13:04 By Unathi Nkanjeni
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Former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini is nothing if not controversial.
Former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini is nothing if not controversial.
Image: Eugene Coetzee/The Herald

If there is one thing former minister of social development Bathabile Dlamini can't seem to shake off it's controversy.

Dlamini resigned as an MP on Tuesday. In an eight-page letter to the ANC she took the Jacob Zuma line of defence, saying no court had found her to be corrupt and claimed she was demonised by the media.

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Here are four of the scandals that have stained Dlamini:

Real Talk

In January 2018, Dlamini came under fire after reports surfaced of the department of social development paying more than R500,000 to the SABC for Dlamini to be interviewed on the programme Real Talk with Anele.

TimesLIVE reported that the SABC received the payment from the department in December 2017. The payment was for the minister to appear on the SABC3 show hosted by Anele Mdoda.

The two-hour show was reportedly rebroadcast during the ANC's elective conference to "boost Dlamini's brand".

Social grants scandal

In October 2018, the DA laid a criminal complaint against the former social development minister after the Constitutional Court found her conduct in the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) debacle to be "reckless and grossly negligent".

The party wanted her to be charged with perjury following her testimony at the court inquiry into her handling of the scandal.

Liable for 20% of legal costs

In September 2018 the Constitutional Court found Dlamini personally liable for 20% of the legal costs incurred over the Sassa fiasco.

The court ordered that she pay‚ in her personal capacity‚ 20% of the costs of Black Sash and Freedom Under Law‚ including the costs of two counsel.

Private security

In May 2017, Dlamini appeared before the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) in parliament where she was questioned about R1m spent on private VIP security for her children, paid for by Sassa.

Responding to questions about this irregular arrangement, Dlamini said she had to resort to private security because "government processes take a long period".


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