Firing DA Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Andrew Whitfield for travelling abroad without permission was easy — even though the axing came long after the actual trip.
On this, two things can be true at once: Whitfield was wrong to travel to the US without permission, and if the DA is the “party of laws” it claims to be, then it should accept the sanction, even if unhappily. At the same time, however, we can be astounded at President Cyril Ramaphosa acting with such decisiveness to fire Whitfield when serious Cabinet fires swirl all around him.
Ramaphosa’s decision was followed by the melodrama of “will they (the DA) or won’t they” leave the Government of National Unity (GNU)? When the DA gave the President an ultimatum that was due to end in a press conference two hours before the Springboks played their first game of the season, who could blame the country for being inured to it all?
It’s all so mind-numbingly predictable. John Steenhuisen, the leader of the DA, an uninspiring man at the best of times, gave ultimatums, frothed and ultimately looked rather lily-livered. Instinct says that much of this has to do with Helen Zille, the DA party chair, who still tediously tries to call the shots from behind. Zille has not yet mastered that salient life lesson: letting go and passing the baton. So, like a relic, she keeps popping up, often inappropriately on social media, unfortunately. Poor Steenhuisen is caught between his position as a Cabinet minister and Zille, with dizzying effect.
The reality is that power is intoxicating for most people. For politicians, it is the chief currency. One minute Steenhuisen is in Parliament, the next he’s in the White House trying to stare down Donald Trump. Quite a journey. The DA has never been as close to real power as it is now; for the ministers in the Cabinet to simply “up and leave” would be hard. Not to mention that the DA would be actively breaking up the GNU at a time of global and local political uncertainty, leaving corrupt actors to fill the vacuum. It is unclear how forgiving South Africans might be about the effects of such an act.
Ramaphosa knows that. What was revealing about the spat, of course, was that the ANC continues to act as if it did not lose the last general election. The electorate sent a clear message about graft and the state of the nation, yet no one in the ANC acts as if their position is tenuous.
National Dialogue
In the end, we heard that the DA was not leaving the GNU, but it would not be part of the National Dialogue, convened by Ramaphosa, and it would not vote in favour of corrupt ministers’ budgets.
On the National Dialogue scheduled for 15 August, Ramaphosa is sabre-rattling again, ordering Steenhuisen to be part of it, given that he is a member of its Inter-Ministerial Committee. Leaving aside these threats, it is hard to understand what a National Dialogue held in one day will achieve. After all, we understand our challenges very well, and South Africans, being as loud and cacophonous as we are and thanks to our free press, are able to document our travails very well.
What we need is action — the right prescription, however. The National Dialogue on 15 August is likely to be a mishmash of “rainbowism” (from our beloved sporting heroes) with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in between.
This was, in fact, the dialogue that coalition partners ought to have had before forming the GNU. Granted, there was not the luxury of time, but the reason the GNU keeps faltering is that its strategy and goals have been unclear from the start.
The action our country needs must come, primarily, from our inert, insipid President.
Rogues’ gallery
But, far be it from Ramaphosa to take on anything thorny or difficult. His Cabinet reads like a rogues’ gallery, in parts. Where to start?
Allegations swirl around Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, minister in the Presidency, who, for some reason, seems to have the President’s ear. She is being investigated by the Hawks for what a judge called a “repugnant and devastating” tender awarded during her tenure as municipal manager of the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality. In addition to allegations of corruption, Ntshavheni has shown herself comfortable using xenophobic rhetoric.
Since last year, serious allegations related to VBS bank corruption have been reported against Minister Thembi Simelane.
Simelane was the mayor of Polokwane between 2014 and 2021 and was appointed as justice minister in July 2024. Her appearance before Parliament about alleged corrupt activities left more questions than answers. If the allegations are true, she would have been party to the VBS scam, which was a crime against the poorest in our country.
Yet, despite repeated calls for her removal, Ramaphosa simply moved her from Justice and Constitutional Development to take up the position of human settlements minister in December 2024. What a travesty. Presumably, Ramaphosa believes that the poor, desperate for housing, deserve a minister with a cloud of corruption over her head.
While the spat about Whitfield was continuing, Gayton McKenzie, the minister of sports, arts and culture, was mouthing off on social media in defence of Ramaphosa’s decision. Ramaphosa turned a blind eye to McKenzie’s xenophobic comments just weeks earlier when, while addressing the chairpersons and CEOs of all Department of Sport, Arts and Culture entities — including museums, theatres and heritage and funding agencies — he launched into an attack on “foreigners” in South Africa.
A large grouping of civil society organisations called McKenzie’s remarks “vulgar” in a statement released on 20 May.
Read more: Gayton McKenzie should be relieved of his Cabinet position
McKenzie, who has said that he is eyeing the presidency (we should be concerned about this, given some by-election results and the global trend towards populism), also threatened to “shut down” the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.
Since our passive President has not acted against McKenzie’s menacing comments against civil society and his illegal pronouncements against government entities, we must assume that these comments represent the GNU he leads. In addition, allegations of corruption have been levelled against McKenzie in the past week after his son bought SuperSport United’s PSL status.
Who can be surprised that McKenzie is now emboldened in his base conduct? After all, Ramaphosa knew that McKenzie was a corrupt xenophobe when he asked him to join his Cabinet.
Yet, he remains, representing and embarrassing our country both here and abroad.
That’s not all
In South Africa there is always more. While the Whitfield matter reared its head, Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane was facing serious “allegations of corruption, misleading Parliament and making politically loaded appointments to the boards of Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas).
“[The allegations] sparked public outrage and legal and parliamentary scrutiny… Chair of the higher education portfolio committee, Tebogo Letsie, suggested that Nkabane might have breached section 17 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities Act, which criminalises knowingly giving false information to Parliament, further intensifying calls for her accountability.”
Read more: DA lays criminal charges against Nkabane over ‘lies’ to Parliament in Seta scandal
The president of the South African Students Congress, Alungile Kamtshe, has also called for her removal, yet the President has been unmoved and the ANC has defended Nkabane.
Read more: Educated for leadership and engulfed by scandal, Minister Nkabane faces her sternest test
Compounding Ramaphosa’s challenges, on Sunday Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, made damning allegations against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, in essence claiming he is in cahoots with criminals.
Mkhwanazi also cited WhatsApp exchanges which implicate the minister, senior law enforcement officials and members of the judiciary in Gauteng. Who is to know exactly where the truth lies in a country used to politicians in bed with all manner of criminals? Mchunu has issued various blanket denials.
At the very least, the allegations show serious divisions between the minister, a powerful regional commissioner and the broader South African Police Service. At worst, it represents an attack on the democratic state and the rule of law. No South African can feel safer or more comforted after the President’s statement. Quite the opposite.
The corruption and dysfunction run deep within our police structures, and ordinary citizens are the casualties (literally) in a country with levels of crime which are completely out of control. The social contract has been broken, and only concerted effort will fix things.
Bland statements
The President was driven to make a statement about this matter from Brazil, where he was attending a BRICS meeting. Both his and the ANC’s statements were bland, with the Presidency now announcing an address to the nation on Sunday evening. Quite where that leaves us, only time will tell.
Will the President act on the Mchunu allegations and use Sunday evening’s announcement as the opportunity to clean out his Cabinet? Or, will he, as he has throughout his presidency, put party above country by acceding to ministers in crucial portfolios who have not properly answered the serious allegations of corruption against them?
Their presence in powerful positions is a threat to the rule of law and undermines whatever confidence citizens have in the government. But firing rogue ministers would mean that Ramaphosa would have to take on powerful forces within his own party. He has repeatedly shown that he does not have the stomach for that, instead preferring to warm the seat of power, while stepping back from his responsibility to protect and defend the Constitution, or take important decisions on the economy, for that matter.
Early on in his presidency, when goodwill from business and civil society towards him was at its highest after South Africa had endured a decade of State Capture nightmare, Ramaphosa chose to squander that goodwill and a rare opportunity for a whole-of-society effort to reclaim our country. Instead, his gaze was on the unfixable ANC.
So, no National Dialogue will help the President grow a spine to do what is needed, no National Dialogue will convince South Africans that we have a President who is willing to expend his political capital (such as it is) in the interests of the country.
Instead, there will be more grinning photo-ops on a “feel-good” day. It will, no doubt, be interspersed with those attending who hold earnest intentions to improve the socioeconomic conditions in our country and who understand that ever-increasing unemployment, a fraying social fabric and deepening inequality are a danger to democracy.
But that cannot address the leadership vacuum this President leaves. If Ramaphosa wants to lead with conviction, he needs to make some unpopular decisions. That is how one saves a country. But, as the saying goes, “There’s a reason why ‘Profiles in Courage’ is a slim volume.” DM