'Leaked R3m trip' and Bathabile ties lead to boot - Oliphant

"Leaked information" about R3 million that the department of social development spent on six delegates for a two-week trip to New York led to her being booted, suspended spokesperson Lumka Oliphant claimed.

- Itumeleng Mafisa

Minister of Social Development Sisisi Tolashe believed Oliphant had leaked the information to the media, she said.

"Sisisi, who does not even have a matric, has been ridiculing my work even though I remain one of the best performing heads of communication in government, according to GCIS [Government Communication and Information System]," Oliphant said.

She claimed she is also "being punished" because of her relationship with the former president of the ANC Women's League (ANCWL), Bathabile Dlamini.

Dlamini was seen as a follower of the RET faction, while Tolashe, the current president of the ANCWL, is a follower of renewal in the ANC.

"Sisisi has taken her political fight with Dlamini to the department and has been victimising me in every meeting, but I decided to give her the respect she deserves as a leader," Oliphant said.