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Dlamini defends government’s decision on Sassa

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Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini says there was nothing untoward about establishing lines of authority in the wake of a Constitutional Court decision to scrap the awarding of a social grant tender to Cash Paymaster Services.

Testifying in a tribunal established to determine whether or not she should be held personally liable for in 2017 social grant’s crisis, which forced the Constitutional Court to extend the unlawful contract with CPS.

Dlamini says the decision to scrap the  tender was done to facilitate the department’s take-over of the function of paying out social grants.

“These people were told to report directly to me did not necessarily imply that they would now work together with Sassa officials. Its only just I needed to be sure that I was kept on the loop,” said Dlamini.

The inquiry follows a Constitutional Court order. In its judgment handed down on 17 March last year, the Constitutional Court called upon Dlamini to explain why she should not be joined to the case in her personal capacity and pay the costs of the application out of her own pocket.

The litigation was brought by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies on behalf of the Black Sash Trust against Sassa, the Minister and Cash Paymaster Services.

It sought to ensure the social grant payment system be protected when the contract between Sassa and CPS ended in March 2017.

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