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Petition is successful with 159 signatures
To: President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa and The Government of National Unity
DSD Minister Tolashe must go
[Update: 14 May 2026] President Cyril Ramaphosa removed Minister Tolashe from the position of Social Development Minister. Read more here https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/president-cyril-ramaphosa-dismisses-minister-nokuzola-tolashe-14-may-2026
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Minister of Social Development Tolashe has been in the news, but for the wrong reasons. Stories like: She took cars that were donated to the ANC Women's League and gave them to her children, and had the cars registered in their names [1].
She’s up to her neck in scandal, and in the meantime, she’s not doing the work.
In fact, she’s making people’s lives worse. People are struggling to access social grants; BIG Policy has been pushed back, social grants are being delayed, and SRD grants remain difficult to access. Because of Tolashe, being a person who relies on social grants in South Africa has become a source of frustration and insecurity.
After nearly two years in power, it's clear Tolashe is failing at her job. She has failed to uphold her duty towards poor people living in this country. She has now become a Minister who employs unqualified people and fraudsters, a Minister who keeps implementing new ways to exclude people from receiving social grants. A Minister who does all these things is not a Minister fit enough to lead an office that serves and supports the most vulnerable people in this country.
We are calling on the President to:
- Dismiss Tolashe from the position as Minister of Social Development.
- Ensure that she is held accountable for all the corruption she is involved in.
Why is this important?
The Department of Social Development’s primary mandate is to ensure that people in this country are socially secure [2]. They have to make sure that people have access to social service resources, such as grants and other welfare services, that will help fight inequality and poverty, and make it possible for all in South Africa to live in dignity. A minister is supposed to ensure that all these things are done.
But ever since Tolashe became Minister of Social Development, more and more people have been excluded from receiving social grants, especially the SRD grant. More ridiculous exclusionary measures have been introduced to prevent people from receiving grants. For example, people are not allowed to receive money from their families, as any money they receive into their bank accounts is considered income.
When these regulations were challenged in court [3], the court ruled that they were indeed exclusionary and unconstitutional and that they should be amended [4]. Instead of fixing them, the Department of Social Development supported the National Treasury in appealing against [5] the ruling and said that the ruling was ‘flawed’ [6].
Under Tolashe, the department is neglecting its duty. They should have corrected all these regulations in line with the court's ruling, but they chose to back the Treasury rather than protect people’s livelihoods.
Not only that, DSD had promised to submit a draft BIG policy to parliament this year, but that has been pushed to next year. They keep undermining the urgency of this policy. Tolashe is really failing at things she should be pushing. Her time in office has done nothing but cause stress for so many poor people relying on grants and social services.
The DSD should be fighting for people in this country to have access to social services, but instead, the person leading it is failing at her job and, not only that, is involved in all kinds of questionable things. Tolashe does not have the ability to serve as DSD Minister. She needs to go.
Reference
- Half-truths, questionable claims, and evasion as Minister Tolashe appears before the parliamentary committee by Rebecca Davis for Daily Maverick, 06 May 2026. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-05-06-half-truths-questionable-claims-and-evasion-as-minister-tolashe-appears-before-parliamentary-committee/
- https://www.gov.za/about-sa/social-development
- Conditions for R350-a-month grant to be challenged in court by Daniel Steyn for Ground Up, 27 July 2023. https://groundup.org.za/article/activists-head-to-court-over-exclusionary-r350-grant-regulations/
- Explosive court ruling on SRD grant by Marecia Damons for Ground Up, 24 January 2025. https://groundup.org.za/article/rules-regulating-r370-a-month-srd-grant-are-unconstitutional-court-finds/
- SRD grant increase is ‘simply unaffordable’ says Treasury by capeetc, 28 January 2026. https://www.capetownetc.com/news/srd-grant-increase-is-simply-unaffordable-says-treasury/
- Treasury and SASSA granted leave to appeal ruling on SRD grant by Marecia Damons of Ground Up, 24 March 2025. https://groundup.org.za/article/treasury-and-sassa-granted-leave-to-appeal-ruling-on-srd-grant/