Duduzile Zuma throws her weight behind Bathabile Dlamini amid perjury case

Former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has thrown her weight behind ANC Women’s League president and former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini. 

This comes after Dlamini was found guilty of perjury relating to the 2017 SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant payments scandal.

The former minister was found guilty by Johannesburg magistrate Betty Khumalo, who said there was sufficient proof that Dlamini gave false evidence when she testified before an inquiry instituted by the Constitutional Court. 

Zuma-Sambudla compared Dlamini to late ANC-stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, claiming Dlamini was charged for allegedly not supporting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government.

“We are in full support of Mama Bathabile. Amandla,” she wrote on Twitter. 

Dlamini will know next month what punishment she faces in her perjury case. 

Sunday Times Daily reported that her lawyer Tshepiso Mphahlane asked the court for leniency.

Mphahlane said Dlamini earns R70,000 from the women’s league and a R40,000 pension as a former MP. He said Dlamini’s income from the women’s league was not permanent as she might not be re-elected at the end of her term.

Prosecutor Matthew Rampyapedi argued that Dlamini, as a senior government official, should be exemplary and asked for a sentence that would send a strong message about lying under oath.

He said direct imprisonment was “not far-fetched”.

“When one looks at the position of the accused, a former minister at national level, if this kind of offence can be perpetuated at that level, what should become of people down there? At the pinnacle of this offence is accountability. We expect a certain standard of honesty from our public servants,” said Rampyapedi.

Zuma-Sambudla’s public support for Dlamini drew mixed reactions, with many questioning her stance.