Spare a thought for Vincent Magwenya, the new presidential spokesperson. He had hardly had his first decent cup of tea at his new office in the Union Buildings when he found himself in the eye of what threatens to be a huge political storm for his boss.
He must have felt a sense of déjà vu as he watched a short statement issued by controversial former state security boss Arthur Fraser develop into a mega story that fundamentally questions President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ethical conduct and his commitment to the rule of law.
Magwenya is not new to the Union Buildings. Nor its controversies.
He served as spokesperson during Jacob Zuma’s first year as president. Months into the term, with Magwenya still familiarising with his new office and colleagues, a major scandal hit: the Sunday Times reported a sensational story about Zuma fathering a child with the married daughter of a powerful soccer boss who was estranged from her husband.
It was the first of many scandals to mar Zuma’s nine years in power. It plunged the new administration into crisis, overshadowing the president’s 2010 state of the nation address. There had to be scapegoats. Within months, Magwenya was among those who exited.
Over the years, covering news and politics, one came to know more than a handful of former spokespeople. It is a thankless job that consumes much time and energy without offering much reward, they say. Many of those I ask say they would not do it again if invited back.
So Magwenya has to be admired for his courage in agreeing to take on the job again while fully aware of its pitfalls, especially with just months to go before Ramaphosa’s bid for re-election as ANC president.
Although the ANC presidential race appears to already be sewn up, with at least three significant provinces — Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and now Limpopo — endorsing Ramaphosa’s re-election, Magwenya would have taken the job in full knowledge that the knives are out for his new boss and that Ramaphosa’s rivals will spend the next few months intensifying efforts to trip him up before the December conference.
In this so-called post-truth era in which rumour-mongering and the peddling of half-truths have become accepted political practice, keeping mum on issues merely grants information peddlers more opportunity to spin yarns unchallenged.
Many a journalist breathed a sigh of relief when it was confirmed that, after two years of the position being effectively vacant due to the premature exit of Khusela Diko, a full-time spokesperson had been appointed.
Tyrone Seale, who took over from Diko on an acting basis following her family’s entanglement with the personal protective equipment scandal during the hard lockdown, did a sterling job under trying circumstances. But he simply did not have the authority a permanent incumbent would need to persuade the president and his government to improve their communication.
As a result, at a time of a major crisis caused by Covid and the subsequent lockdown, the president was hardly accessible and accountable to the public.
His idea of communicating with citizens narrowed to an appearance on TV once or twice a month to issue new lockdown rules, with hardly any questions allowed.
He hardly granted one-on-one interviews, even in times when there were burning issues that needed him to respond pointedly to direct questions.
When he did field questions, it was mostly in ineffective imbizo-style gatherings with South African National Editors Forum suits, during which time would be taken up by pleasantries but with little space for robust engagement. Such platforms are important and one is grateful we live in a country where presidents still see the need to interact with editors and other senior journalists. But these are no substitute for one-on-one interviews or question-and-answer sessions with reporters whose daily duty it is to cover the presidency.
Ramaphosa’s office may have thought in the past that making him less available to public scrutiny protects him. But it is actually doing him a disservice. In this so-called post-truth era in which rumour-mongering and the peddling of half-truths have become accepted political practice, keeping mum on issues merely grants information peddlers more opportunity to spin yarns unchallenged. Suddenly what may be a genuine effort to root out corruption is seen as an abuse of state resources in order to prevent one’s political competitors from challenging for office. Hopefully, Magwenya does not see his new role as that of a gatekeeper, but as an official who is there to put the president’s point across and make him accessible to those whose job is to report on government.
The controversy over the Phala Phala farm heist may be a baptism of fire for him, but how he responds to it will be an important indicator of what kind of presidential spokesperson he will be over the next two years of Ramaphosa’s first term in office.
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