36 Facts About Bathabile Dlamini

Bathabile Dlamini was born on 10 September 1962 and is a South African politician who was the President of the African National Congress Women's League from 2015 to 2022.

Bathabile Dlamini was previously the Minister in the Presidency for Women from 2018 to 2019 and the Minister of Social Development from 2010 to 2018.

Bathabile Dlamini was a Member of Parliament between 1994 and 2004.

Bathabile Dlamini was first elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in 2007 and became an outspoken supporter of former President Jacob Zuma, who appointed her to his cabinet.

Bathabile Olive Dlamini was born on 10 September 1962 in Nquthu in what was then Natal province, now part of KwaZulu-Natal.

Bathabile Dlamini grew up in Matshensikazi, near Nkandla, and in Imbali, a township outside Pietermaritzburg.

Bathabile Dlamini joined the South African National Students Congress, another Congress-aligned organisation, in 1985.

Bathabile Dlamini was formally elected as the Regional Secretary of the ANCWL in the Natal Midlands in 1992 and held that position until December 1993, when she was elected Deputy Secretary General of the national ANCWL, serving under Secretary General Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

In South Africa's first post-apartheid election in 1994, Bathabile Dlamini was elected as a Member of the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament.

In 2005, Bathabile Dlamini was one of the politicians implicated by the Scorpions in South Africa's Travelgate scandal, which concerned the abuse of parliamentary travel vouchers.

Bathabile Dlamini became involved in the foundation of the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa, launched in 2006.

However, Bathabile Dlamini was elected to an ordinary seat on the ANCWL National Executive Committee.

Bathabile Dlamini was re-elected to a seat in the National Assembly in the 2009 general election, which saw Zuma elected as President of South Africa.

Bathabile Dlamini served as Deputy Minister until 31 October 2010, when Zuma announced a cabinet reshuffle in which Dlamini replaced Molewa as Minister of Social Development.

Bathabile Dlamini remained in the social development portfolio for the rest of Zuma's presidency, securing appointment to his second cabinet after the 2014 general election.

In June 2016, the opposition Democratic Alliance criticised Bathabile Dlamini for arguing that social grant recipients should be able to survive on a monthly payment of R753, pointing out that she had herself spent R11,000 on a short stay in a luxury hotel in Umhlanga Rocks.

In May 2017, under questioning by Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Bathabile Dlamini admitted that the South African Social Security Agency had paid from its budget to hire private security for her children, according to her because of various threats to the children's safety.

However, Bathabile Dlamini was widely criticised for her inaction in the months and years before the contract's expiry, as well as for her handling of the media during the crisis.

Bathabile Dlamini claimed that she had not taken action earlier because it was not until October 2016 that she became aware that SASSA was not prepared to implement the proposed takeover.

Bathabile Dlamini's attendance had been very good in 2016 but between January and May 2017 both she and her Deputy Minister missed six of nine committee meetings at which their presence had been expected.

Bathabile Dlamini beat Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, who was running for re-election, with 1,537 votes to Motshekga's 1,081.

Bathabile Dlamini was re-elected to the mainstream ANC's National Executive Committee at the party's 53rd National Conference in December 2012 and again at its 54th National Conference in December 2017.

In 2016, Bathabile Dlamini famously told the SABC that senior ANC members should hesitate to discuss publicly allegations of state capture under Zuma's administration, because "All of us in the NEC [ANC National Executive Committee] have our smallanyana ["tiny little"] skeletons and we don't want to take out skeletons because all hell will break loose".

Ahead of the ANC's 54th National Conference in 2017, Bathabile Dlamini supported Zuma's unsuccessful campaign to have Nkosazana Bathabile Dlamini-Zuma elected as his successor.

Bathabile Dlamini remained ANCWL President until 2022, despite having been elected for what was, in terms of the league's constitution, a five-year term.

Bathabile Dlamini attempted to stage a political comeback in July 2023 as the Women's League held its first elective conference since 2015.

Bathabile Dlamini's ambitions were dashed when it was revealed that she had received the fewest nominations for the position of president of the Women's League; she had only managed to secure 258 branch nominations, far behind her competitors Sisisi Tolashe and Thembeka Mchunu, who received 1,564 and 796 nominations, respectively.

Bathabile Dlamini held that portfolio until 25 May 2019, when, following the 2019 general election, she was removed from Ramaphosa's cabinet.

Bathabile Dlamini was re-elected to her seat in Parliament, having been ranked 14th on the ANC's party list, but she resigned shortly after the election in June 2019.

The 2018 report of the Ngoepe inquiry into the social grants crisis suggested that Bathabile Dlamini had been dishonest, as well as negligent, during the crisis.

Ngoepe reported to the Constitutional Court that, during the inquiry, Bathabile Dlamini had been highly evasive and had made statements which were contradicted by other evidence.

Bathabile Dlamini denied this, and Ngoepe suggested that her denial was false and self-serving.

DA politician Bridget Masango laid a formal complaint with the Public Protector, alleging that Bathabile Dlamini had lied to Parliament in May 2016 when she assured the National Assembly that SASSA would be able to take over social grants payments from April 2017; the Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, reported in 2019 that she could not "substantiate" Masango's claim that Bathabile Dlamini's promise had violated the Executive Ethics Code.

However, Bathabile Dlamini was indeed charged with perjury and made her first appearance in the Johannesburg magistrate's court on 1 September 2021.

Bathabile Dlamini was convicted of perjury on 9 March 2022.

Bathabile Dlamini's conviction led to some controversy on the question of whether the ANC's so-called step-aside rule required Bathabile Dlamini to step down as ANCWL President.