The general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, David Sipunzi, said something simple, yet profound, at the weekend. Speaking to the Sunday Times, he professed to being unsure about how exactly the president of our republic chooses some of his cabinet ministers.
“Maybe he picks up the Constitution and says, ‘Oh, OK, I’ve got the right to do it,’ and then does it…We don’t know,” he confessed.
You cannot blame Sipunzi for being so confused and sounding so depressed.
Our public life is now filled with so much mediocrity that one has to wonder how this nation has any chance of making any headway against poverty and unemployment given the quality of those tasked with this important job.
With President Jacob Zuma has come the rise of the mediocre, the incompetent, the ineffective and the compromised.
Some of his cabinet choices – and the heads of key institutions such as the National Prosecuting Authority and others – have brought nothing but shame, confusion and dishonour to their portfolios.
He has specialised in choosing the weak, the compromised and sometimes the outright corrupt to key portfolios.
How exactly can the organisation of such greats as Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, Pixley kaIsaka Seme and so many others tolerate an ignoramus such as Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane in such an important portfolio?
This is a man whose every utterance confirms that he is a puppet, a shell who is the wooden accompaniment of a ventriloquist who lives in the Gupta family compound in Saxonwold or Dubai.
There are many others in the Zuma administration who are like this.
The Minister of Co-Operative Governance, Des van Rooyen, has all but confirmed all the suspicions about his appointment last year by appearing as a foot soldier for Zuma at rallies in Luthuli House and through his intemperate, ill-considered, attacks on the finance minister – a cabinet colleague.
We shouldn’t be surprised by his actions, for the company he keeps makes it clear who and what he is.
Van Rooyen is now the right-hand man of Kebby Maphatsoe, the man who once unashamedly lied by branding public protector Thuli Madonsela a CIA spy.
Maphatsoe is the rabid Zuma defender who admitted in court three weeks ago to being a liar and had to pay Ronnie Kasrils, the former intelligence minister, half a million rand.
Maphatsoe – who deserted his post in the camps of Umkhonto weSizwe – proudly serves as the deputy minister of military veterans and defence.
How he continues in the post can only be ascribed to his being a key cog in the machinery that protects Zuma and keeps his ego boosted.
Why has Zuma avoided trial for fraud, corruption and racketeering for so long?
Last week two key cogs in the legal machinery that has kept Zuma away from getting his day in court – Nomgcobo Jiba, one of the four deputy heads of the National Prosecuting Authority, and Lawrence Mrwebi, the head of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit – were found to be not “fit and proper” to be advocates.
They join another Zuma ally, Hawks head Berning Ntlemeza, who was found by the Pretoria High Court to have lied under oath.
Jiba and Mrwebi should not worry too much about their legal woes.
They were found last week to have brought “the image of the legal profession, the Prosecuting Authority, into disrepute”.
Well, Zuma was found by the Constitutional Court to have “failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution” and he is still in office, in charge and laughing all the way to VBS Mutual Bank for a loan.
This is what we have become.
Think of some of Zuma’s incompetents: Faith Muthambi at the communications ministry, Dudu Myeni at SAA, David Mahlobo at state security, Bathabile Dlamini at social development…
Why were they appointed in the first place?
The weak are pliable. They have no other choices in life. When Zuma drops them that is the end of their political lives. They have to protect him at all costs, no matter what he does, no matter how much of the public fiscus is looted in his time.
It is easy to be depressed about all this mediocrity around us, but there is also brilliance in parts of our state machinery.
At such times we must celebrate the sterling work done by the Constitutional Court and other parts of the judiciary, which is an institution that has led by example.
We must celebrate the incredible, inspirational public protector Thuli Madonsela and her office, which continues to be a brave and wonderful institution.
Then there are the government departments which are being harassed and intimidated to act for the few instead of the many. Yet they withstand the pressure. They fight back. Departments like the National Treasury continue to be globally admired and continue to stand against the mediocrity of the likes of Zwane.
I raise a glass to them. After the people themselves, they are our people’s only hope.
Hope remains despite parade of inept Zuma-Gupta puppets
“Maybe he picks up the Constitution and says, ‘Oh, OK, I’ve got the right to do it,’ and then does it…We don’t know,” he confessed.
You cannot blame Sipunzi for being so confused and sounding so depressed.
Our public life is now filled with so much mediocrity that one has to wonder how this nation has any chance of making any headway against poverty and unemployment given the quality of those tasked with this important job.
With President Jacob Zuma has come the rise of the mediocre, the incompetent, the ineffective and the compromised.
Some of his cabinet choices – and the heads of key institutions such as the National Prosecuting Authority and others – have brought nothing but shame, confusion and dishonour to their portfolios.
He has specialised in choosing the weak, the compromised and sometimes the outright corrupt to key portfolios.
How exactly can the organisation of such greats as Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, Pixley kaIsaka Seme and so many others tolerate an ignoramus such as Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane in such an important portfolio?
This is a man whose every utterance confirms that he is a puppet, a shell who is the wooden accompaniment of a ventriloquist who lives in the Gupta family compound in Saxonwold or Dubai.
There are many others in the Zuma administration who are like this.
The Minister of Co-Operative Governance, Des van Rooyen, has all but confirmed all the suspicions about his appointment last year by appearing as a foot soldier for Zuma at rallies in Luthuli House and through his intemperate, ill-considered, attacks on the finance minister – a cabinet colleague.
We shouldn’t be surprised by his actions, for the company he keeps makes it clear who and what he is.
Van Rooyen is now the right-hand man of Kebby Maphatsoe, the man who once unashamedly lied by branding public protector Thuli Madonsela a CIA spy.
Maphatsoe is the rabid Zuma defender who admitted in court three weeks ago to being a liar and had to pay Ronnie Kasrils, the former intelligence minister, half a million rand.
Maphatsoe – who deserted his post in the camps of Umkhonto weSizwe – proudly serves as the deputy minister of military veterans and defence.
How he continues in the post can only be ascribed to his being a key cog in the machinery that protects Zuma and keeps his ego boosted.
Why has Zuma avoided trial for fraud, corruption and racketeering for so long?
Last week two key cogs in the legal machinery that has kept Zuma away from getting his day in court – Nomgcobo Jiba, one of the four deputy heads of the National Prosecuting Authority, and Lawrence Mrwebi, the head of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit – were found to be not “fit and proper” to be advocates.
They join another Zuma ally, Hawks head Berning Ntlemeza, who was found by the Pretoria High Court to have lied under oath.
Jiba and Mrwebi should not worry too much about their legal woes.
They were found last week to have brought “the image of the legal profession, the Prosecuting Authority, into disrepute”.
Well, Zuma was found by the Constitutional Court to have “failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution” and he is still in office, in charge and laughing all the way to VBS Mutual Bank for a loan.
This is what we have become.
Think of some of Zuma’s incompetents: Faith Muthambi at the communications ministry, Dudu Myeni at SAA, David Mahlobo at state security, Bathabile Dlamini at social development…
Why were they appointed in the first place?
The weak are pliable. They have no other choices in life. When Zuma drops them that is the end of their political lives. They have to protect him at all costs, no matter what he does, no matter how much of the public fiscus is looted in his time.
It is easy to be depressed about all this mediocrity around us, but there is also brilliance in parts of our state machinery.
At such times we must celebrate the sterling work done by the Constitutional Court and other parts of the judiciary, which is an institution that has led by example.
We must celebrate the incredible, inspirational public protector Thuli Madonsela and her office, which continues to be a brave and wonderful institution.
Then there are the government departments which are being harassed and intimidated to act for the few instead of the many. Yet they withstand the pressure. They fight back. Departments like the National Treasury continue to be globally admired and continue to stand against the mediocrity of the likes of Zwane.
I raise a glass to them. After the people themselves, they are our people’s only hope.
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