Let me start by saying this: Busisiwe Mkhwebane is an intelligent woman. And I hope and pray that by saying so I am not being condescending.
My point is that I believe when she wanted parliament to amend the constitution in order to alter the function of the SA Reserve Bank to not only focus on inflation targeting, she knew exactly what she was doing.
I do not, for one moment, want to believe she did not know she had acted somewhat ultra vires (outside of her scope). It seems to me she was banking on support from somewhere.
It could have been parliament (President Jacob Zuma and his minions). However, when the Speaker of parliament decided to oppose her, she seems to have realised the game was up.
But the Public Protector’s “recommendation” needs to be seen against the greater political backdrop. The common narrative in the public domain – one supported by thousands of e-mails – is that the President, and by extension the Gupta family, are set on capturing the Treasury.
By appointing Malusi Gigaba and Sifiso Buthelezi as finance minister and deputy respectively, the plan seemed to be coming together.
Next in line for capture was the SA Reserve Bank which, according to this plan, would need to be nationalised.
Mkhwebane’s recommendation falls perfectly in line with this thesis.
The application by the Speaker however, took the wind out of Mkwebane’s sails. After all the President could never be seen to be endorsing the public protector against parliament, the institution that he leads.
Coming so soon after the ANC policy conference, what all of this shows is the fluid nature of power.
Power refuses to be static. It shifts and swings pretty much like a pendulum. The dynamic nature of power means you can have it today but lose it tomorrow.
The ANC’s national policy conference was somewhat of a confirmation of the intention by some in the ANC to fight to restore the organisation to its former glory as “leader of society”.
These are the likes of Joel Netshitenze and others, who fought at the policy conference to remove the adjective “white” from the term monopoly capital.
Indeed, it remains clear that after 23 years of democracy the economy is still largely in the hands of our white brothers and sisters. That much cannot be denied. Erstwhile President Thabo Mbeki said as much when he talked of two nations in one: one white and the other black. His thesis was that the rich were white and those living in poverty were predominantly black.
However, the addition of the “adjective” white to monopoly capital (something the ANC and SACP identified as far back as the 1960s as a common enemy), presented a problem in a country still grappling with the legacy of racial segregation.
The term “white monopoly capital” was recently revealed to be the brainchild of the UK PR firm Bell Pottinger in a quest not only to shift attention away from the Guptas, but to engender racial tension in the country.
This revelation was a godsend and confirmation of the unease that some in the ANC have felt about its use.
Netshitenze and those who shared his view must have felt vindicated at Nasrec. No political organisation, least of all one with the credentials of the ANC, should be taking their cue from another entity, least of all a spin doctoring one, more especially with the reputation of Bell Pottinger.
But back to the public protector. Unfortunately she has increasingly been seen as lacking the fierce independence of her predecessor. Now having had to back down, she is now left with egg all over her face.
The sad part of this saga is that taxpayer’s money will be used to pay the legal costs of a case that was non-starter from the onset. But that’s South Africa for you.
Lolonga Tali lives in King William’s Town
OPINION: PP gambled on support from parliament but lost
My point is that I believe when she wanted parliament to amend the constitution in order to alter the function of the SA Reserve Bank to not only focus on inflation targeting, she knew exactly what she was doing.
I do not, for one moment, want to believe she did not know she had acted somewhat ultra vires (outside of her scope). It seems to me she was banking on support from somewhere.
It could have been parliament (President Jacob Zuma and his minions). However, when the Speaker of parliament decided to oppose her, she seems to have realised the game was up.
But the Public Protector’s “recommendation” needs to be seen against the greater political backdrop. The common narrative in the public domain – one supported by thousands of e-mails – is that the President, and by extension the Gupta family, are set on capturing the Treasury.
By appointing Malusi Gigaba and Sifiso Buthelezi as finance minister and deputy respectively, the plan seemed to be coming together.
Next in line for capture was the SA Reserve Bank which, according to this plan, would need to be nationalised.
Mkhwebane’s recommendation falls perfectly in line with this thesis.
The application by the Speaker however, took the wind out of Mkwebane’s sails. After all the President could never be seen to be endorsing the public protector against parliament, the institution that he leads.
Coming so soon after the ANC policy conference, what all of this shows is the fluid nature of power.
Power refuses to be static. It shifts and swings pretty much like a pendulum. The dynamic nature of power means you can have it today but lose it tomorrow.
The ANC’s national policy conference was somewhat of a confirmation of the intention by some in the ANC to fight to restore the organisation to its former glory as “leader of society”.
These are the likes of Joel Netshitenze and others, who fought at the policy conference to remove the adjective “white” from the term monopoly capital.
Indeed, it remains clear that after 23 years of democracy the economy is still largely in the hands of our white brothers and sisters. That much cannot be denied. Erstwhile President Thabo Mbeki said as much when he talked of two nations in one: one white and the other black. His thesis was that the rich were white and those living in poverty were predominantly black.
However, the addition of the “adjective” white to monopoly capital (something the ANC and SACP identified as far back as the 1960s as a common enemy), presented a problem in a country still grappling with the legacy of racial segregation.
The term “white monopoly capital” was recently revealed to be the brainchild of the UK PR firm Bell Pottinger in a quest not only to shift attention away from the Guptas, but to engender racial tension in the country.
This revelation was a godsend and confirmation of the unease that some in the ANC have felt about its use.
Netshitenze and those who shared his view must have felt vindicated at Nasrec. No political organisation, least of all one with the credentials of the ANC, should be taking their cue from another entity, least of all a spin doctoring one, more especially with the reputation of Bell Pottinger.
But back to the public protector. Unfortunately she has increasingly been seen as lacking the fierce independence of her predecessor. Now having had to back down, she is now left with egg all over her face.
The sad part of this saga is that taxpayer’s money will be used to pay the legal costs of a case that was non-starter from the onset. But that’s South Africa for you.
Lolonga Tali lives in King William’s Town
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