Opinion / Columnist
Ramaphosa is weak and afraid
09 Dec 2024 at 11:23hrs | Views
When Minister of Defence Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula treated a South African Air Force plane as a private jet and gave several ANC honchos a lift to Zimbabwe in 2020, the nation was rightfully enraged.
There were widespread calls for her to resign, failing which President Cyril Ramaphosa should fire her.
Ramaphosa's response was to meekly request a report from his minister. He then issued a rebuke, saying, inter alia, that she had committed an "error of judgement" that "was not in keeping with the responsibilities of a minister of Cabinet" and had not acted "in the best interest of good governance".
For her sins she got a "reprimand" and had her salary docked for three months. A mild slap on the wrist if ever there was one.
Mapisa-Nqakula was to escape unscathed again a year later when she grossly and deliberately mismanaged the deployment of soldiers during the July 2021 riots in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Her decisions, laid bare during the subsequent inquiry, cost the country dearly.
Instead of acting harshly, Ramaphosa swapped her with National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise.
By doing so, he deployed one of his most inept, unethical and unaccountable ministers to head a crucial pillar of our democracy and effectively made her the third-most senior political leader in the country.
The president's failure to act against this minister's egregious behaviour is just one illustration of his chronic indecision.
This seemingly incurable sickness was on display again this week as he sought to avoid making a decision on the embattled former Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Thembi Simelane.
It has been months since Simelane's stinky and untenable relationship with the VBS looters was exposed.
She has long submitted the report Ramaphosa meekly asked for. And then for months he did nothing. His hand was eventually forced by more damaging revelations relating to her conduct.
So how did Ramaphosa show his decisiveness? He swapped her with Minister of Human Settlements Mamoloko Kubayi.
What is he saying exactly? That her taint is not good for the justice portfolio but okay for other ministries?
We know what else this non-action definitely says: South Africa's president is weak and afraid.
There were widespread calls for her to resign, failing which President Cyril Ramaphosa should fire her.
Ramaphosa's response was to meekly request a report from his minister. He then issued a rebuke, saying, inter alia, that she had committed an "error of judgement" that "was not in keeping with the responsibilities of a minister of Cabinet" and had not acted "in the best interest of good governance".
For her sins she got a "reprimand" and had her salary docked for three months. A mild slap on the wrist if ever there was one.
Mapisa-Nqakula was to escape unscathed again a year later when she grossly and deliberately mismanaged the deployment of soldiers during the July 2021 riots in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Her decisions, laid bare during the subsequent inquiry, cost the country dearly.
Instead of acting harshly, Ramaphosa swapped her with National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise.
By doing so, he deployed one of his most inept, unethical and unaccountable ministers to head a crucial pillar of our democracy and effectively made her the third-most senior political leader in the country.
The president's failure to act against this minister's egregious behaviour is just one illustration of his chronic indecision.
This seemingly incurable sickness was on display again this week as he sought to avoid making a decision on the embattled former Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Thembi Simelane.
It has been months since Simelane's stinky and untenable relationship with the VBS looters was exposed.
She has long submitted the report Ramaphosa meekly asked for. And then for months he did nothing. His hand was eventually forced by more damaging revelations relating to her conduct.
So how did Ramaphosa show his decisiveness? He swapped her with Minister of Human Settlements Mamoloko Kubayi.
What is he saying exactly? That her taint is not good for the justice portfolio but okay for other ministries?
We know what else this non-action definitely says: South Africa's president is weak and afraid.
Source - citypress
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