Cosatu calls on Dlamini to quit

Social development minister is responsible for social grants crisis, says federation.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) yesterday demanded that Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini take responsibility for the looming social grants crisis, saying she had to resign.

“This is not just an administration bungle, but a political own goal that smacks of corruption,” secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said.

Cosatu’s call came amid concerns that more than 17 million grant beneficiaries were at risk of going without their monthly payouts on April 1. This was after the department had failed to issue a tender for potential dispensers of the country’s social security grants to bid.

Experts and politicians were worried that many beneficiaries would starve, as the grant was their only source of income.

The government pays about R10 billion per month in social grants.

“They have failed to deal with the irregular expenditure and irregular tender procedures that have resulted in the threat to the livelihoods of 17 million grant beneficiaries.”

Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini said the call had nothing to do with targeting Dlamini, but was in line with similar calls the trade union federation had made to other ministers and officials who had failed to do their jobs.

The federation said a catastrophe could have been avoided had the minister not undermined the Constitutional Court, which had declared the Cash Paymaster Services contract invalid.

Cosatu called for the outsourcing of government functions, tendering systems and “agencification” of the state to be eradicated.

It suggested that the Post Office and Postbank be used as service providers.

Meanwhile Dlamini, who has so far dodged a face-off with MPs, has been summoned to appear before the standing committee on public accounts on Tuesday, to account for the grant crisis.