Defence minister reinstates Ngobeni after Manuel attack

Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has reinstated her legal adviser Paul Ngobeni after he was caught up in a public spat with Planning Minister Trevor Manuel.

Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has reinstated her legal adviser Paul Ngobeni after she suspended him for a month, SABC news reported on Monday.

Ngobeni was suspended for sending Planning Minister Trevor Manuel an open letter on a race row involving government spokesman Jimmy Manyi.

Sisulu distanced herself from the letter, saying neither she nor her office were consulted about it. She asked Ngobeni to submit written reasons why he should not be fired as her legal adviser.

Ngobeni called Manuel a “gangster of the worst kind” in an open letter published in the Sunday Independent.

Manuel, also in an open letter, had previously chastised Manyi for saying there was an “over-supply” of coloureds in the Western Cape.

In his letter Manuel called Manyi a racist of the “worst order”, a move which the ANC criticised.—Sapa