FORMER MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FOUND GUILTY OF PERJURY
09 MARCH 2022
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Gauteng Local Division, Adv. Andrew Chauke welcomes the verdict by the Johannesburg Magistrates' Court that found former Minister of the Department of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini guilty of perjury.
Dlamini was charged with perjury, alternatively, the Contravention of Section 38 (5)(b) the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 (lying under oath). The charges relate to her testimony during an inquiry established by the Constitutional Court into her role in the 2017 social grants crisis.
The inquiry that was chaired by former Judge President B.M Ngoepe, stemmed from a Constitutional Court application brought by Black Sash Trust, joined by Freedom Under Law over the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and Dlamini's failure as the Executive Officer, to appoint a service provider for the distribution of social grants.
The Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Adv. Jacob Serepo, working closely with Captain Tlou Martin Nailana and Sergeant Deon Mbhalati of the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation Unit, submitted evidence in the form of the prescribed record of proceedings of the Ngoepe Commission and thereafter called former SASSA CEO, Thokozani Magwaza to corroborate what was contained in the record. The court found his evidence to be truthful and reliable and that it was not rebutted by the defence.