When chairs try to play Cupid
Soviet Lekganyane, chair of the parliamentary ad-hoc committee investigating claims made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, started his job very well.
Over time, he has earned praise for his non-partisan approach — giving every political party in the committee a fair chance to express its views, even when those views are hostile to his own party, the ANC. When disputes arose, he’d step in at strategic moments to maintain peace.
But it seems he is now taking this peacemaker role too far, increasingly seeing himself as some kind of Dalai Lama of the committee.
Take his intervention during a heated exchange between ANC MP Xola Nqola and National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams this week. Adams, appearing as a witness, took issue with Nqola for interrupting him while he answered questions.
As the war of words escalated, a calm Lekganyane intervened: “Let’s do this. Can you look at each other?”
Nqola protested: “No, no, I won’t look at anybody.”
Adams was having none of it: “No, chair, there is no love to be made here. I was answering his question, and the next thing he is down my throat.”
Defeated, Lekganyane said: “If you can’t look at each other, can you look at me?”
To which Adams responded: “I’ll look at you, chair — you are good-looking."
The sooner Lekganyane realises the committee is not another season of the TV show All You Need Is Love, the better for all of us.
Friends with benefits? Not on TV
Speaking of love and related matters, the appearance of Sarah-Jane Trent before the committee taught Hogarth a totally new phrase — one which, unfortunately, he’s too old to ever put to good use.
Asked about her relationship with former Ipid boss Robert McBride, with whom she had worked investigating senior police management, Trent replied: “We had a semi-social relationship, but nothing sort of serious there ... uh, we met for meals ... not a lot.”
With a straight face, Lekganyane asked: “What is a semi-social relationship?”
Trent: “Uh, so we saw each other every now and then. There was an attraction, but there was no relationship that went on … It wasn’t some ‘Oh, I love you and I’ll do anything for you’ kind of thing.”
Still, Lekganyane demanded she explain further: “You, what? You’re like friends with benefits?”
To which she laughed: “You are not allowed to say that on national television.”
Blown kisses, buried face
Trent’s erstwhile boss, Paul O’Sullivan, appeared before the committee again — this time markedly more contrite. Gone was the defiance that had seen him leave the committee before without permission. He apologised several times, much to the satisfaction of many MPs, who had been left with egg on their faces, realising they had no power to stop him when he chose to leave.
While they seemed to enjoy this different O’Sullivan, one MP was clearly not prepared for the change.
At the end of his testimony, the forensic investigator blew a couple of kisses towards MK party MP Mazolman Skosana, with whom he had previously had many public skirmishes. The other MPs laughed, some even clapped — but Skosana appeared genuinely embarrassed, burying his face behind his laptop as if searching for some important e-mail from Nkandla.
Peace pipe pending: remembering Lekota
Many memories of the man have been shared since the announcement of former defence minister Patrick Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota’s death earlier this week.
Much of what has been said focused on his role in the South African Students’ Organisation in the 1970s, his time on Robben Island, his leadership of the United Democratic Movement in the 1980s, his government roles in the 1990s, and his decision to form the Congress of the People (Cope) in 2008.
Hogarth, however, would like to remember him as the man who upset the applecart at the ANC’s elective national conference in 1997. The dominant faction, led by then-best friends Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, had wanted then-sports minister and ANC stalwart Steve Tshwete as the new national chairperson.
Opposed by the likes of the ANC Youth League, Lekota seemed to stand no chance. But on election day, the majority of branches — including from Tshwete’s home province, the Eastern Cape — backed Lekota.
Shocked by his unexpected defeat, Tshwete reportedly rounded up a couple of Eastern Cape delegates for a meeting in which he called them names that are not printable in a family newspaper.
Hogarth can only hope that when the two men meet in the afterlife, it will be over a peace pipe.
Exit, stage left: Magashule’s silent departure
Another politician reportedly shocked by Lekota’s election was Ace Magashule, who at the time controlled an ANC provincial faction that had hounded “Terror” out of his position as premier of the Free State.
When it was announced that Lekota had been elected national chairperson, Magashule and his followers apparently upped and left Mafikeng — where the conference was being held — without saying goodbye to the rest of their comrades.
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