The Constitutional Court is expected to rule on Thursday whether former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini should be held personally liable for legal costs incurred in the social grants debacle.

This, after the court ordered in March last year that Dlamini should explain why she should not personally pay the legal costs of the social grants case.

Justice Johan Froneman also made another order three months later – that further investigation be conducted into why Dlamini could be held personally liable.

Read: Bathabile Dlamini admits she failed to inform ConCourt promptly about Sassa deadline delay

The dark cloud hanging over Dlamini’s head dates back to 2014, when the court ruled that the contract the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) had signed with social grants distributor Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) two years prior was illegal and invalid.

The court then suspended the order of invalidity until March 31, 2018 to allow the social development department and Sassa time to find a new provider, which it found in the South African Post Office (SAPO).

The court also ordered that CPS continue paying social grants for 12 months from April 1. 

Read more: Sassa debacle: Dlamini hits back, saying ConCourt has no authority to impose cost order

Dlamini previously said she felt that one individual should not be singled out for the situation in which Sassa had found itself in.

Sassa has until September 30 to transfer more than three million beneficiaries, who are still dependent on the old CPS infrastructure, to the SAPO’s new system. It also needs to swap out old Sassa-Grindrod cards for new Sassa-SAPO cards.

After making slow progress in April, the agency has posted better numbers, successfully transferring roughly 1.5 million beneficiaries in May and June, and a further 300 000 in July.