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President Cyril Ramaphosa’s choice of former communications minister Dina Pule as the new minister of social development in his latest cabinet reshuffle has raised eyebrows and drawn a flood of criticism from opposition and civil society quarters.
He had sacked the previous incumbent, Sisisi Tolashe, amid a scandal over luxury foreign travel, irregular staff appointments and the way two luxury Chinese cars ostensibly donated to the ANC Women’s League ended up with family members. And all of this covered up by a web of lies not worthy of a senior politician responsible for disbursing billions of rands in social security payments.
In axing Tolashe, one might have thought the president would use the opportunity to make a clean break in a troubled department and choose a minister of impeccable integrity. But he has not done so. Instead, he has revived the political fortunes of a minister who was found guilty of unethical conduct by the public protector and who was ordered to apologise to the Sunday Times, which she accused of running a “smear campaign” against her after having exposed a love relationship and the benefits that flowed to her partner.
In choosing Pule for this vital post, Ramaphosa implies his loyalties do not lie with the millions of recipients of social grants and a public tired of corruption. Instead, he has put his party first. It’s almost as if the social development post is reserved for women’s league leaders, with a previous incumbent, Bathabile Dlamini, having set a lamentable record of malfeasance.
His choice of Pule suggests little has changed and that ANC priorities will always trump the public interest
Ramaphosa came into office promising a new dawn after the disgrace of state capture. Yet even while aspects of his big cleanup have shown promise, in the form of the Zondo and Nugent commissions and now the Madlanga commission, his choice of Pule suggests little has changed and that ANC priorities will always trump the public interest.
Of course, the prerogative to appoint cabinet ministers is entirely the president’s, yet the onus is on him to apply his mind in doing so. That being the case, it is hard to fathom how he arrived at a decision that on the face of it seems irrational and a slap in the face for those who put their trust in him. It raises the question whether he alone is exercising his prerogative or whether other forces within his party are in charge.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has, predictably, defended the choice of Pule, arguing that we all deserve a chance at redemption, and that Pule has quietly and diligently worked her way back. But is her position in parliament as chair of the portfolio committee on agriculture not sufficient reward for her efforts?
Ramaphosa comes across as a president beholden to party interests, sending out a message that no offence would be considered great enough to disqualify party members from high public office.
For many ANC voters, party loyalty may come first. For many others, though, reeling under the combined effects of ANC incompetence and corruption, Pule’s new job will convince them that Ramaphosa’s ANC is paying lip-service to clean government. Come elections on November 4, this could hurt the party, pushing it further down the road to political oblivion.
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