The Democratic Alliance has welcomed the appointment of Justice Bernard Ngoepe to head up the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Minister of Social Development‚ Bathabile Dlamini’s‚ role in causing the social grants crisis.

The DA’s Bridget Masango said on Wednesday that Dlamini had tried to shift the blame to the accounting officers‚ namely the former Director-General‚ Zane Dangor‚ and the former CEO‚ Thokozani Magwaza.

“However‚ this has failed and rightly so.

“The DA have long been of the view that Dlamini manufactured the crisis‚ possibly for financial gain‚” said Masango.

She added that this was a welcome step towards ensuring that Dlamini was held accountable and would shed light on the real reasons as to why SASSA was not able to institutionalise the grants payment system.

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“The DA looks forward to a date for the Inquiry being set and to ensuring that the Minister is made to face up to playing games‚” Masango said.

She said some of the key matters that the inquiry will deal with are:

- Whether the Minister sought the appointment of individuals to lead “workstreams” who would report directly to her; and

- The reason why the Minister did not disclose to the Constitutional Court the fact that she appointed individuals to the “workstreams” and that they reported to her directly.

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