The appointment of Nobuhle Nkabane as the ANC’s second most powerful figure in parliament is not just a slap in the face — it’s a cruel joke on anyone who believes good grades and a strong CV will get them anywhere.
Consider the teens in Thohoyandou, Limpopo, who queued for hours hoping for placements in the SANDF during Armed Forces Day in the small town. I bet many of them didn’t even like the idea of being a soldier. But the idea of wallowing in joblessness after studying hard for various qualifications was more heartbreaking. Faced with the indignity of food poverty and hopelessness, being a soldier is a small sacrifice.
Think, too, of the doctors who marched to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), hoping the regulatory body would pressure the government to allocate a budget for doctors to be employed. We know the HPCSA can neither employ nor pressure health departments to employ them, but desperation forces even doctors to do unimaginable things. If you consider, too, that only the finest and most talented among our matriculants make it to medical school, your heart must bleed for unemployed doctors.
Now consider Nkabane, the former higher education minister unceremoniously dropped from the cabinet by President Cyril Ramaphosa after a litany of very egregious acts. She became infamous for her chicken-munching during a parliamentary portfolio committee meeting and for presiding over a scandal involving the stuffing of sector education training authorities (Setas) with ANC cronies and the children of ANC leaders.
She then said this was recommended by an “independent panel”, but the names of the panel members existed, it seems, only in her head. After tying herself in knots and being made to explain her conduct to Ramaphosa, he had no option but to fire her.
Her behaviour was repugnant. She was condemned by everyone who could spell the word “condemnation”. Some argued she was not worthy of the back benches to which she was relegated. And yet, this week, she moved from the back to the front benches of parliament.
Nkabane made a joke of parliament and its accountability processes. She behaved as if she was doing it a favour in making time to appear before MPs. That the ANC has made her the embodiment of discipline in parliament is shocking — but revealing
Unlike those who stand in queues hoping for a breakthrough, Nkabane knows she can mess up and still return to the top of the food chain — and not because of merit. Principle in politics, it seems, is passé.
Nkabane’s return to the top sends a message to young people that they need to toss away their CVs and focus on having the right contacts — because these will put them on the front benches regardless of how many times they mess up.
A chief whip is a high-ranking party member responsible for enforcing discipline, managing parliamentary business and liaising between leadership and the party’s parliamentary constituency.
For the ANC, that responsibility lies with Mdumiseni Ntuli, a well-respected leader who missed becoming the party’s secretary-general by a whisker at its last elective conference. The chief whip sits close to the president and deputy president, serving as a liaison on the goings-on in the legislature.
The ANC this week stunned those who still believe in it — but validated the correctness of the decision of those who don’t — by confirming Nkabane’s undue promotion.
Nkabane made a joke of parliament and its accountability processes. She behaved as if she was doing it a favour in making time to appear before MPs. That the ANC has made her the embodiment of discipline in parliament is shocking — but revealing.
It signals that the ANC’s leadership either couldn’t find anyone else worthy or that her scandals didn’t matter much to the party, which wouldn’t surprise many. Or perhaps we are Mandela’s forgiving people.
In a normal world, Nkabane would face an inquiry on whether she lied to parliament and be prosecuted, just like Tony Yengeni was.
I thought we had moved from an era where political parties chose spokespersons because they spoke a lot during community meetings. I thought there was now room for nuance, if not political nous and finesse. The higher education deployment of Nkabane required this of her. She failed dismally. Now she has a job to ensure discipline. Ho-hum!
Her elevation — despite her uncouth conduct — says much about what is required to get ahead. It says much about the values of the ANC of today.
It also says to unemployed doctors and others desperate enough to just want to be soldiers (even though they hate it) that it’s not about how disciplined you are; it’s about who’s got your back, stupid.
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