By Kaya 959 Reporter
Former Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini is expected to stand trial for perjury in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Dlamini was charged in 2018 after the Constitutional Court found that she failed in her duties as a minister.
The court said Dlamini failed to disclose information during an inquiry. She was accused of doing this for fear of being held liable for the 2017 social grants payment crisis.
The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Gauteng Local Division, Advocate Andrew Chauke, decided to criminally prosecute Dlamini for perjury.
“Alternatively, the Contravention of Section 38 (5)(b) the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 (lying under oath) in August 2021. The charges relate to her testimony during an inquiry established by the Constitutional Court into her role in the 2017 social grants crisis,” NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane says.
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Dlamini expected to state her plea
Mjonondwane says the establishment of the inquiry stemmed from a Constitutional Court application brought by Black Sash Trust over the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).
Freedom Under Law was also part of the application.
They accused Dlamini of failing in her duty as an Accounting Officer to appoint a service provider for the distribution of social grants.
Former Judge President BM Ngoepe chaired the inquiry.
“Subsequent to the 2018 ruling that ordered that its judgement, together with Judge Ngoepe’s inquiry report, be forwarded to the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration of criminal liability, the NDPP directed that the matter be dealt with by the office of the DPP,” Mjonondwane says.
Dlamini made her first appearance on 21 September 2021. The court postponed the matter to 1 October for disclosure of the contents of the docket to her legal team.
Mjonondwane says Dlamini is expected to state her plea before the state calls its first witness.



