Bathabile Dlamini conviction ‘important victory’ for rule of law
Reactions have been streaming into the guilty verdict handed down to Bathabile Dlamini in a perjury matter over the social grants debacle.
The conviction of the former social development minister and ANC Women's Leagues president has sent shock waves across the country.
The Johannesburg Magistrate's Court yesterday on Wednesday that Dlamini lied under oath during the 2017 inquiry into SASSA's social grants crisis.
READ: Dlamini found guilty of perjury for lying under oath
"I think what's important to stress is that this crime for which she has been convicted was committed when she was a minister, holding an executive authority, the head of the department of social development,” says Nicole Fritz, who's with the Helen Suzman Foundation.
She says the verdict is significant.
"The lies that she told the highest court, the Constitutional Court were such that she thought actively to mislead it.
Sentencing proceedings have been set down for April 1.
The NPA wants Dlamini sent to jail.
But speaking to journalists outside court yesterday, the ANC's Tony Yengeni disagreed.
"We said to the court that this is not a matter for imprisonment but a matter for a file. So for now we wait for that process to complete."
