Social Development Minister Dina Pule returns 13 years after axing

President Ramaphosa has handed new Social Development Minister Dina Pule a golden opportunity for redemption. Fired from Cabinet as Communications Minister back in 2013 over the ICT Indaba scandal, Pule was sworn into her latest role on 1 July 2026.

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As Social Development Minister, Dina Pule now controls the purse strings of billions of rands in social grants. She replaces Sisisi Tolashe who was fired back in May over undisclosed donations to the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL).

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT MINISTER DINA PULE

Meanwhile, Social Development Minister Dina Pule’s appointment has drawn immediate backlash from opposition parties and civil society groups. As the custodian of R271 billion in South African Social Security Agency grants, she now controls the second largest budget portion of the national fiscus, behind debt servicing.

Furthermore, trade union COSATU has also complained that it wasn’t consulted on the hiring of the new Social Development Minister. Pule first served as Deputy Minister of Communications in 2009. She then moved to Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency in 2010. Jacob Zuma made her full Communications Minister in 2011, before she was fired in July 2013.

WHY WAS SHE FIRED IN 2013?

Most recently, Pule has been chairing the Agricultural portfolio committee. Image: File

At the time, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found that Pule had misled investigators over ICT Indaba sponsorship that benefited her then-boyfriend. Pule was ordered to apologise and repay travel costs but more or less vanished from front-line politics. However, she returned to Parliament after the 2024 elections, chairing the Agriculture portfolio committee, as well as deputy secretary-general of the ANCWL.

Unfortunately, new Social Development Minster Dina Pule follows a revolving door of scandals within the department. Outgoing minister Sisisi Tolashe held the position from 2024 to May 2026, before being fired by Ramaphosa under section 91(2) of the Constitution. Before her, Lindiwe Zulu (2019 to 2024) was reshuffled into Small Business Development under the GNU, over alleged irregularities with her appointment.

Bathabile Dlamini (2010 to 2018) was moved out as Social Development Minister in February 2018. This was after the Constitutional Court found her ‘grossly negligent’ over the 2017 SASSA payments crisis. She then landed in the Women’s ministry, the same pool Tolashe would eventually be drawn from to later ascend to minster.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT MINISTER DINA PULE?

Perhaps Social Development Minister Dina Pule’s greatest asset is her survival instinct. She managed to rebuild a political career after a corruption scandal that most would never have recovered from. Whether that translates into fixing SASSA’s most basic problems remains to be seen …  

But what do you think? Will the new Social Development Minister Dina Pule be able to redeem herself? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below …

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