The Constitutional Court has ordered an investigation whether social development minister Bathabile Dlamini should be personally liable over the social grants crisis.
This comes after Dlamini submitted her affidavit to the ConCourt in April, as motivation why she should not be held responsible for the social grants payment crisis. The minister shifted blame to the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) and its CEO, Thokozani Magwaza.
Magwazi fired back at Dlamini's claims by filing his own affidavit to the ConCourt. He told the court the minister knew about the agency's inability to take on payment of social grants in July 2015.
According to Magwaza, Dlamini had derailed SASSA's plans to take over the grant payments.
Delivering the ConCourt judgement this morning, justice Johan Froneman said all parties involved must agree to a process to determine Dlamini's involvement.
He stated: "The parties must, within 14 days of this judgement, report to this court whether they have agreed to a process in terms of section 38 of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 in order to determine the issues relating to the minister's role and responsibility in the establishment and functioning of the work-streams referred to in affidavits filed by the minister, Mr Magwaza and Mr Dangor.
"Failing agreement the court will issue directions determining the process."
SASSA and the social development department's woes began when the agency failed to select a suitable payments distributor ahead of the expiration of the current contract with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS).
CPS has been the sole distributor of social grants on behalf of SASSA since it was awarded the contract in 2012.
In 2013, the contract was declared invalid by the ConCourt after it emerged irregular tendering processes were followed in the awarding of the tender. The court suspended the invalidity declaration pending the contract's expiration.
SASSA, the entity in charge of social grants, was expected to take over payments when the invalid contract expired on 31 March. However, the agency failed to get its affairs in order to do so.
In March, the ConCourt extended the contract with CPS for another year, in an effort to avert a social grants disaster that would affect more than 17 million citizens.
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