Mphahlane said the state presented the evidence of a single witness, Magwaza, though Magwaza joined Sassa long after the establishment of the work streams.
He said the state failed to call material witnesses including Mvulane, Petersen, Ramokgopa and members of the three work streams.
Mvulane as a defence witness emphasised during her testimony that work streams did not report to the accused and that Mvulane provided Dlamini with regular updates, he said.
“She said more than 10 times that work streams did not report to the accused directly. They reported to her as a project manager and she provided updates to the accused.
“She was battered during cross-examination to try to make her concede that she was not telling the truth. But she was steadfast: work streams did not report directly to the accused,” Mphahlane said.
Mphahlane said Mvulane testified that Magwaza was not telling the truth when he said during his term at Sassa that work streams never reported to the executive committee.
“There is a contradiction between the two, from the project manager of work streams and former CEO of Sassa, who is a single witness for the state.”
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Bathabile Dlamini to know her fate on perjury charge next month
Journalist
Image: Thapelo Morebudi/Sunday Times
Former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini will find out on March 9 whether she is guilty of perjury.
The Johannesburg magistrate's court on Wednesday reserved judgment after hearing closing arguments from the prosecution and defence.
While the prosecution called for magistrate Betty Khumalo to find that the state had proven its case against Dlamini, the ex-minister's legal team said the court should find that Dlamini did not intentionally lie to former Gauteng judge president Bernard Ngoepe during an inquiry ordered by the Constitutional Court in 2017.
Dlamini was charged with perjury after a Constitutional Court judgment in 2018, which came in the wake of an inquiry into whether she should pay costs in her personal capacity for the social grants payment debacle.
State says it has proved Bathabile Dlamini lied under oath
One of the issues the inquiry probed was whether Dlamini had appointed work streams of the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) to ensure Sassa could take over the payment of social grants from Cash Paymaster Services.
Dlamini allegedly denied under oath that she appointed the work streams and that they reported to her.
The ConCourt said the inquiry found that Dlamini appointed individuals to lead the parallel work streams and those individuals reported to her. The work streams were supposed to report to the Sassa executive committee, not to the minister.
The ConCourt then directed its registrar to forward a copy of the inquiry report and its judgment to the national director of public prosecutions, to consider whether Dlamini lied under oath and, if so, whether she should be prosecuted for perjury.
In its closing argument on Wednesday, defence advocate Tshepiso Mphahlane said the court should find that the evidence of key witnesses the state failed to call in this case would possibly not have sustained the state’s allegations against Dlamini.
Mphahlane said the state did not call Virginia Petersen and Raphaahle Ramokgopa, the erstwhile CEO and acting CEO of Sassa respectively.
He said according to the evidence of Zodwa Mvulane, the project leader of the work streams, Petersen established the work streams in 2015, and when she left Sassa, Ramokgopa took over. This happened long before Thokozani Magwaza could join Sassa as CEO.
Bathabile Dlamini defends Lindiwe Sisulu: ‘Discuss the issues raised instead of hurling insults’
Mphahlane said the state presented the evidence of a single witness, Magwaza, though Magwaza joined Sassa long after the establishment of the work streams.
He said the state failed to call material witnesses including Mvulane, Petersen, Ramokgopa and members of the three work streams.
Mvulane as a defence witness emphasised during her testimony that work streams did not report to the accused and that Mvulane provided Dlamini with regular updates, he said.
“She said more than 10 times that work streams did not report to the accused directly. They reported to her as a project manager and she provided updates to the accused.
“She was battered during cross-examination to try to make her concede that she was not telling the truth. But she was steadfast: work streams did not report directly to the accused,” Mphahlane said.
Mphahlane said Mvulane testified that Magwaza was not telling the truth when he said during his term at Sassa that work streams never reported to the executive committee.
“There is a contradiction between the two, from the project manager of work streams and former CEO of Sassa, who is a single witness for the state.”
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