Nongovernment organisation Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) on Monday called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire former Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.

Outa says the “damage” that Dlamini had inflicted on social development was immense and called Cash Payment Services’ (CPS’s) social grants contract with the South African Social Security Agency “disastrous”.

This call follows the inquiry ordered by the Constitutional Court to determine culpability around the crisis that erupted last year, with a court official confirming that Dlamini had until today to respond to the findings.

Outa’s call for Dlamini’s dismissal also comes after Judge Bernard Ngoepe’s report to the Constitutional Court said that Dlamini’s explanation for her failure to explain herself over the Sassa debacle was “unconvincing”.

Outa Special Projects portfolio manager Dominique Msibi said in a letter to Ramaphosa that Dlamini had deliberately delayed the implementation of an alternative to CPS, lied about the capabilities of the South African Post Office and manipulated the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research reports to ensure that the contract was extended to benefit CPS. 

“It is ludicrous that the extension will result in recipients now personally paying an additional R10 in bank administration fees, an amount they cannot afford,” said Msibi.

She went on to say that Ministers who damaged one ministry should be held accountable and not reappointed to another ministry in the hope that the damage they caused goes away.

“It is ironic that she has been moved to the Ministry of Women, considering her record of abusing the benefits meant for oppressed elderly women and vulnerable children,” added Msibi.