Pretoria — South Africa has a new Minister of Social Development. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Dina Deliwe Pule to the portfolio on 30 June 2026, and she was sworn in at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 1 July 2026, alongside other new ministers and deputy ministers named in the reshuffle.
Pule now heads the department responsible for the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), which pays social grants — including the R370 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant — to roughly 28 million beneficiaries each month. The department administers one of the largest budgets in national government.
She replaces Sisisi Tolashe, whom Ramaphosa removed from Cabinet in May 2026. The appointment formed part of a wider Government of National Unity Cabinet reshuffle that also adjusted several Democratic Alliance positions, following a request from DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis.
A return to Cabinet
Pule, a senior official of the ANC Women’s League, previously served as Minister of Communications from 2011 to 2013 under President Jacob Zuma. That term ended after a parliamentary ethics committee found she had failed to disclose a relationship with a businessman who benefited from a department-linked contract — a finding echoed by then–Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.
She has since rebuilt her standing in the ANC, returning to its National Executive Committee in 2022 and to Parliament after the 2024 general election, where she chaired the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture.
Reaction
The ANC welcomed the appointment, and the chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Social Development, Bridget Masango, pointed to Pule’s recent oversight experience. Opposition figures and civil society voices, however, questioned whether returning a minister with a prior adverse ethics finding was appropriate for a department under intense financial scrutiny.
The task ahead
Pule inherits real service-delivery pressures. Beneficiaries in several provinces have reported disruptions, including months-long grant payment delays affecting pensioners in Mpumalanga — her own home province — as SASSA tightens verification and review processes.
A change of minister does not alter SASSA’s monthly payment cycle, which runs independently. Beneficiaries can continue to check their SRD grant status and payment dates online to confirm their result and expected payment window.
Sources: The Presidency (SAnews.gov.za), Parliament of South Africa, News24, Mail & Guardian, EWN.
