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THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 10 2012 22:59 | LAST UPDATED Feb 10 2012 22:59 |
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President Jacob Zuma’s surprise visit to Balfour, Mpumalanga, this week certainly ruffled a few feathers. The mayor Lefty Tsotetsi was not in his office -- ostensibly because of an upset stomach -- but he rushed back when alerted to Zuma’s visit. Zuma paid a flying visit to the area in the wake of recent service delivery protests, in which government buildings and shops belonging to foreign nationals were razed to the ground.
Mayoral secretary Douwlina Pretorious was reported to have been so surprised by Zuma’s entrance that she dropped a plate of food, but she told the M&G that this was not the case. Twenty-four hours after Zuma’s visit, Tsotetsi received another unannounced visit: from the M&G. This time Tsotetsi was at his desk and in a meeting with his municipal manager, Patrick Malebye. Pretorious said she wanted to set the record straight. M&G: So what happened yesterday? Douwlina Pretorious: We were sitting here working in my office, myself, as well as my daughter and then a lot of bodyguards came in. They asked if I am the secretary and I confirmed that I am the secretary for the mayor, then they said they have got a visitor for me and then I said OK then let him come in, and then the next moment the president walked in and I was very shocked but I didn’t drop a plate of food. There was no journalist in this office, it was bodyguards, the president, me, and my daughter. M&G: So you are saying the Times just came up with that story? DP: Exactly. M&G: What were you thinking when you saw the president? DP: I was surprised. I mean, you don’t expect something like that to happen in Balfour, but it was a great surprise. He greeted us, asked us how’s Balfour, made conversation and then he just waited a few seconds for the mayor. M&G: Where was the mayor at that time? DP: I don’t know if I can answer that. M&G: So you don’t know where he was? DP: I know where he was. (Pretorious looks at the communications officer, Mohlalefi Lebotha, who answers “But the mayor told you where he was. He says he was at home sick.”) DP: Yes, he was at home. He was sick. It’s the truth he was here until about 11 o’clock. I can say that if I am allowed to. As personnel, we are not allowed to talk to press so that is why I am asking him [Lebotha]. He was at home, that I told the president and he was fine with that and he said don’t phone him and I said ‘No we can’t do that,’ and then I phoned the mayor and he said, ‘No, I am already on my way’. M&G: So he wasn’t just taking a day off? DP: No, never. I have worked with him for three years and not once has he just taken a day off.  CONTINUES BELOW TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE
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