Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) MP Liezl van der Merwe cited the AG’s announcement earlier on Wednesday that Sassa had used old government databases to pay out the R350 grant, and therefore might have paid the wrong beneficiaries.
Van der Merwe asked the minister whether she would be asking Memela to step down, given these massive failures.
“I have, at this moment, no intention whatsoever of asking the CEO to step aside,” responded Zulu.
She reminded MPs that during the early stages of lockdown they were being attacked for delaying payments. She said the delay was because they were putting systems to avoid some of the things raised by the AG.
When FF Plus MP Tamarin Breedt suggested that if Zulu won’t dismiss Memela, maybe she should step down herself because someone needed to be held accountable for the failures.
“My fear, however, is that in the [AG’s] opinion there were a lot of system failures. Systems are run by people and people are not perfect.
“With regard to the food parcels, it was found by the AG that there were wrong beneficiaries. They were double-dipping, and there were irregularities with the food parcels and distribution thereof,” said Breedt.
She asked the minister if thorough investigations would be done and whether officials would be held accountable and face consequences for failing the poor and the vulnerable.
“If not the CEO of Sassa, then it has to be you,” added Breedt.
An angry Zulu retorted that she was not going anywhere. She dared Breedt to write to President Cyril Ramaphosa if she wished, but reiterated that she wouldn’t be going anywhere.
While she agreed with Breedt that systems were run by people and that people who have done wrong should be held accountable, Zulu was adamant that she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“One of the things that I know is that this Lindiwe Zulu hasn’t done anything wrong in that space. This Lindiwe Zulu doesn’t sleep … like all the other ministers, we don’t sleep. We work day in and day out. We sit endlessly in meetings because we are committed in one thing and one thing only: serving the people of South Africa,” she said.
Sassa has previously confirmed that its systems have rejected qualifying applicants due to database errors. But on reconsideration, some would be approved and ultimately received their payment.
BY ANDISIWE MAKINANA
