Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini irked members of parliament on Tuesday after she tried to leave before answering questions on the pending roll-out of social grants.
Dlamini appeared before parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday‚ after missing last week’s session‚ where she was expected to face tough questions.
After spending an hour or two outlining how the grants programme had unfolded over the past few years‚ Dlamini requested that Scopa chair Themba Ngodi excuse her to attend a cabinet meeting.
Scopa members were not pleased.
EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi immediately expressed his anger at Dlamini’s request.
“This is wrong!” Ndlozi shouted.
“The minister needs to be told to her face‚ she is undermining parliament. This is not a church‚ you cannot just preach and we say ‘amen’ and then you go. You must sit here and account!” Ndlozi said.
Dlamini responded by asking Godi for protection.
“I don’t want to be insulted. I don’t want to be pushed to where I am being pushed‚” Dlamini said.
Dlamini has faced a barrage of criticism in recent weeks‚ as the fate of 17 million grant recipients remains unclear.
The minister has assured beneficiaries that their grants will be paid from April 1‚ after months of uncertainty around the social grant distribution agency. The contract of the current agent‚ Cash Paymaster Services (CPS)‚ expires at the end of this month. But Dlamini’s department has struggled to explain who will take over‚ given that CPS’s previous contract was declared irregular by the Constitutional Court.
Dlamini irks MPs: You can’t just preach and expect us to say ‘amen’
Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini irked members of parliament on Tuesday after she tried to leave before answering questions on the pending roll-out of social grants.
Dlamini appeared before parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday‚ after missing last week’s session‚ where she was expected to face tough questions.
After spending an hour or two outlining how the grants programme had unfolded over the past few years‚ Dlamini requested that Scopa chair Themba Ngodi excuse her to attend a cabinet meeting.
Scopa members were not pleased.
EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi immediately expressed his anger at Dlamini’s request.
“This is wrong!” Ndlozi shouted.
“The minister needs to be told to her face‚ she is undermining parliament. This is not a church‚ you cannot just preach and we say ‘amen’ and then you go. You must sit here and account!” Ndlozi said.
Dlamini responded by asking Godi for protection.
“I don’t want to be insulted. I don’t want to be pushed to where I am being pushed‚” Dlamini said.
Dlamini has faced a barrage of criticism in recent weeks‚ as the fate of 17 million grant recipients remains unclear.
The minister has assured beneficiaries that their grants will be paid from April 1‚ after months of uncertainty around the social grant distribution agency. The contract of the current agent‚ Cash Paymaster Services (CPS)‚ expires at the end of this month. But Dlamini’s department has struggled to explain who will take over‚ given that CPS’s previous contract was declared irregular by the Constitutional Court.
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