South Africa

RET VS RAMAPHOSA

Showdown looms after Lindiwe Sisulu denies Presidency statement that she apologised and retracted her attack on judges

Showdown looms after Lindiwe Sisulu denies Presidency statement that she apologised and retracted her attack on judges
Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu. (Photo: Gallo Images / ER Lombard)

By getting Lindiwe Sisulu to apologise, President Cyril Ramaphosa aimed to show he had control over a Cabinet that was committed to constitutionalism and the rule of law. But Sisulu undermined her boss in what appears to be a move to force him to fire her ahead of the ANC's elective conference.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu met this week in Cape Town to discuss Sisulu’s attacks on the judiciary. What happened at the meeting is unclear, with both parties providing conflicting reports on whether Sisulu apologised.

What is clear is that the meeting has now become about the race for ANC president.

The Presidency issued a statement on Thursday evening claiming Ramaphosa “admonished” the long-serving Cabinet member, who retracted and apologised for some of the most insulting passages of her column that claimed the Constitution and judiciary are used to maintain systems of poverty and oppression.

Here’s the Presidency’s statement in full:

President Cyril Ramaphosa met with the Minister of Tourism, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu, in Cape Town earlier this week, where he admonished her about her recent article entitled “Hi Mzansi, have we seen justice?” published on 7 January 2022.

The President specifically admonished the Minister about her attack on the judiciary when she said: “Today, in the high echelons of our judicial system are those mentally colonised Africans, who have settled with the worldview and mindset of those who have dispossessed their ancestors.

They are only too happy to lick the spittle of those who falsely claim superiority.

The lack of confidence that permeates their rulings against their own speaks very loudly, while others, secure in their agenda, clap behind closed doors.”

Minister Sisulu conceded that her words were inappropriate.

Minister Sisulu retracts this statement and affirms her support for the judiciary.

I accept that my column has levelled against the judiciary and African judges in particular unsubstantiated, gratuitous and deeply hurtful comments,” said Minister Sisulu.

I retract unequivocally my hurtful comments. I recognise that many women and men judges past and present have served their country in the judiciary with dedication and patriotism and some have made sterling sacrifices in the fight against apartheid and colonialism.

I apologise for and regret the hurt I have caused the judiciary.”

Sisulu’s initial column, published on Independent Media platforms, has been interpreted as an attempt to woo the ANC’s Radical Economic Transformation (RET) faction ahead of the party’s elective conference in December, where it’s believed she wants to lead the challenge against Ramaphosa for the party presidency. Her comments echoed claims from former president Jacob Zuma and other RET supporters.

The Presidency’s statement was meant to be a show of strength from Ramaphosa. He is famous for building consensus, but has been criticised for failing to act against his opponents within the ANC who have undermined his leadership and the rule of law. 

Sisulu’s column, which she defended in two subsequent opinion pieces, subverted Ramaphosa’s authority and the image he has been trying to build locally and abroad.

Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo called Sisulu’s comments “completely unacceptable” and said “it would be a pity if it was allowed to stand”. Zondo, who handed the State Capture Inquiry’s first report to Ramaphosa days before Sisulu’s article was published, said there was a pattern of people trying to intimidate the judiciary following critical judgments.

Civil society groups the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation‚ the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution‚ Corruption Watch‚ Defend our Democracy Campaign‚ Freedom Under Law‚ Helen Suzman Foundation and Judges Matter said Sisulu’s call to overhaul the judiciary was “dangerous and regressive”.

They said such unwarranted attacks on the judiciary by politicians “appear intended only to foreclose on the prospect of accountability for crimes, malfeasance and other wrongdoing associated with public office”.

Justice Minister Ronald Lamola admonished his colleague for failing to mention a single judgment to support her claim that courts are enforcing oppressive laws. “Referring to judicial officers by using crude racial tropes cannot pass off as a debate,” he added.

The Presidency’s statement implied that Ramaphosa had responded to calls to defend the judiciary and South Africa’s democracy, taking action while a significant portion of his party has rallied to ensure he serves only one term.

Barely an hour after the statement was released, Sisulu issued a response, once again undermining her boss and effectively calling him a liar. Here’s her statement in full:

I have just been informed of a media alert issued by the Presidency that apparently claims that I Lindiwe N. Sisulu retracted my original expression.

I wish to categorically disown this statement in its entirety as a misrepresentation of the said meeting I had with the president. The president and I met on Wednesday at 9 pm at his house. In such a meeting, he shared his challenge with one aspect of the article on the judges. The president proposed an intermediary that would focus on the one line about the judges to resolve that. I awaited such to be communicated which would do nothing to the entire article.

Under no circumstances did I commit to any retraction or apology since I stand by what I penned.

The content of the president’s statement in its current form is unfortunate as it is not what we agreed on. In this regard, I wish to distance myself from such.

I will in the next 24 hours issue a full statement.

The presidency shot back with another statement, reiterating its position, which means it, in turn, accused Sisulu of lying. It reads:

The Presidency stands by its statement earlier this evening, 20 January 2022, on a discussion between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister of Tourism Ms Lindiwe Sisulu.

The Presidency has nothing to add to the earlier statement.

While it’s unclear what happened when Ramaphosa met Sisulu, it seems extremely unlikely that the Presidency would draft a press statement including her apology – with direct quotes from the minister – without talking to her and her staff.

Ramaphosa resisted calls to fire Sisulu after she penned three columns that essentially attacked his leadership, undermined the rule of law and read more like RET campaign pieces than what she claimed were legitimate musings on the country’s inequities.

By disputing the Presidency’s statement on Thursday, Sisulu appears to be making a calculated move to force the president to sack her.

Sisulu has been unashamed about her political ambitions. In 2017, she launched a campaign for the ANC presidency but later agreed to run as deputy president when it was clear she couldn’t compete with Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. 

In the run-up to the ANC’s 2022 conference, she does not yet have the constituency or backing to topple Ramaphosa. But the RET faction doesn’t have an obvious candidate to challenge the president. Sisulu appears to be positioning herself to fill that role and vie to become the party’s first female leader. To do so, she needs to campaign early and campaign hard.

Her columns have attacked the judiciary, political elite, big corporates and the system of structural racism that continues in South Africa. She is attempting to build her campaign around populist rhetoric that positions her as a defender of the poor, black majority that has not enjoyed the benefits of democracy and feels betrayed by the promises of freedom.

Getting fired by Ramaphosa would play into that strategy. The politics of victimhood are a regular feature in the ANC as leaders have purged opponents and used both real and manufactured allegations to maintain power.

Former president Jacob Zuma set the template, campaigning against Thabo Mbeki on the claim that he was being persecuted by an elitist because he was a man of the people.

Sisulu does not enjoy the wide support Zuma did and Ramaphosa is not Mbeki. But she appears to be forcing Ramaphosa to act against her and give her a legitimate reason to lead the RET faction into the December conference.

Ramaphosa must weigh up the consequences of acting against an errant minister with the consequences of retaining a minister who undermines his leadership. DM

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

  • Ritchie Morris says:

    Its a pity that the Minister is spending her time fighting with her colleagues instead of fulfilling her duties as the Minister of Tourism – trying to attract tourists to revive a battling industry sector. Could all politicians who don’t do their portfolio duty have their salaries retracted/deducted, and just get paid by the ANC – where they seem to spend most of their time fighting with each other.

  • Dennis Bailey says:

    What does it matter? Spent force all of them. Is there no news other than ANC w**kers?

    • J.F. Aitchison says:

      Why not relegate Sisulu to deputy minister of the Ministry of the President (or whatever it’s called) where Ramaphosa can keep a close eye on her and contain any further damage sheds intent on doing.

    • Craig King says:

      Unfortunately they are the ones manning the flight deck on this crashing jumbo jet and we are the passengers.

  • Carsten Rasch says:

    Pathetic. Like a kiddies fight about lollypops. On the other hand, why is no-one working on a West Wing kind-of soapie? Call it Broken Wing. Or Chicken Wing. Wing Nuts. Wing Wing (why doncha give me a call?)

    • John Traas says:

      The script already seems to be based on a mixture of something from The Goon Show, Monty Python, with a good dose of “Yes Minister” thrown in!

  • Johan Buys says:

    where is that handy Record button on the hidden audio recoding device when you need it!

  • Katharine Ambrose says:

    She certainly knows how to pump the publicity with all this rubbish getting tons of free press coverage. Maybe it’s a form of attack on the media. By making the situation confused and irritating to the public she could undermine people’s interest in and belief in the very press that cover her. So that’s parliament, the concourt and the press
    under attack. What’s next on the 101 revolutionary handbook list? The army?

  • Sandra Goldberg says:

    Well let us see what the famously often silent President does. It will hardly do his cause much good if he does employ his favorite tactics of ignoring or belittling problems, such as the “ lapses” of his party. What now is going to happen to his call for “ unity” within the ANC? He really is in an untenable situation, to a large extent his own fault. He has retained wholly unsuitable persons in his cabinet, both the disloyal( eg Sisulu) and the incompetent and also allegedly corrupt. Is this going to be a wake up call to reshuffle?

  • William Stucke says:

    Getting fired from her post as minister may well play into her strategy of launching an attempt at the presidency of the ANC. However, if she is also evicted from the ANC, then she would be obliged to start up another party, hopefully taking most of the RET faction with her.
    There’s something to wish for!

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.