Higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane has done herself no favours in her handling of the fumbled appointment of suitable heads to the sector education and training authorities (Setas).
She has been the epitome of arrogance and disdain for the public, and only in a cabinet that gives the widest berth to incompetence and malfeasance would she have any future at all.
The facts of the matter are by now well known. Some time last month, Nkabane’s choices for the plum Seta positions were leaked into the public domain. Among them were mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe’s son, Buyambo, along with several victims of ANC internecine political struggles, among them former KwaZulu-Natal provincial politicians and a former office-bearer in the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, Mike Mabuyakhulu.
It was quite obvious the list was tainted and hardly contained names one would think of to lead what are meant to be important secondary-education structures. With the ANC having lost its majorities in many of the committees in parliament, the opposition in the form of the DA, and including the EFF and MKP, were able to have Nkabane summoned to parliament to explain her exotic choices.
There, she brought no credit to her cause, replying with a haughty superiority while chewing gum, and avoiding answering the questions. She claimed the names had been decided after consultation with an “independent panel ”, comprising people she could not yet identify.
President Cyril Ramaphosa quite correctly called her in and she had to withdraw the list, but the questions from MPs remained and she was ordered to provide the names of those on the “independent panel”. Again, she was obstructive, pleading for more time.
This week she delivered the list of names to parliament, with two redacted. Curiously, she included the name of the respected advocate Terry Motau but noted that he “did not attend” the meeting that decided the names. The others on the list are officials on her payroll.
Inadvertently, Nkabane has shone a light on the dodgy, party-inspired practices that have been employed all too often and that have led to too much of the public service being beholden to party bosses for their jobs
Motau, clearly unhappy at being drawn into the controversy, issued a statement saying that not only had he not been at the meeting referenced by the minister but he had also never been to any such meeting. This though he had been approached some time ago to serve on such a panel, but nothing had come of it.
Was the minister really trying to give the impression that Motau was part of an “independent panel” when in fact he was explicit he never played such a role? Would that amount to lying to parliament? And what of her claim that the panel was independent? A matter of opinion, or another lie?
Kudos to parliament for not letting her get away with this without explanation. Her attitude displays an arrogance and resistance to public scrutiny that is altogether out of place in our democracy, and Ramaphosa dare not let the matter pass.
Inadvertently, Nkabane has shone a light on the dodgy, party-inspired practices that have been employed all too often and that have led to too much of the public service being beholden to party bosses for their jobs. The minister has dug a deep hole for herself in trying to avoid the charge that she is elevating cronies to comfortable positions. In doing so she has claimed the authority of an “independent panel” whose existence, alas for her, appears to be in doubt.
No doubt there are those behind this debacle who will choose to remain conveniently silent — but perhaps a fuller inquiry might unearth who really pulled the strings behind the scenes.
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