Howard Barrell
Serious political disputes in the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology lay behind the resignation this week of its Director General, Roger Jardine.
The rows pitted Jardine against one of his two deputies, Musa Xulu, and his minister, Lionel Mtshali, according to arts and science circles, as well as sources in the department.
According to these sources the disagreements arose out of a growing perception that Xulu and Mtshali were attempting to use the department to advance the Inkatha Freedom Party’s sectional political interests.
Jardine has declined to comment on these suggestions. Announcing his resignation this week, he spoke merely of “personal and professional” reasons for resigning.
Mtshali, who is out of the country, was not available for comment. But his representative, Frans Basson, said that Mtshali and Jardine had held a private meeting earlier this month after which Jardine “handed a letter to the minister requesting that his contract be re- determined”.
Mtshali would be appointing an acting director general to replace Jardine from January 1, Basson added.
Xulu refused to comment on any aspects of the allegations being made about the reasons for Jardine’s resignation until he had seen the full text of his former boss’s resignation statement.
Jardine trained as a physicist in the United States before working on science policy for the African National Congress.
Xulu is a former music academic who was recently embroiled in a scandal over missing funds at the KwaZulu-Natal Arts Cultural Council.
Leaders of the scientific and artistic communities expressed shock and dismay at Jardine’s departure.
“This is a real pity,” said Dr Rolf Stumpf, deputy vice-chancellor of Stellenbosch University and former president of the Human Sciences Research Council.
“Jardine displayed a remarkable wisdom and maturity, despite his youth, when he took the job as director general.
“He is an eminently reasonable person who succeeded in spearheading the transformation of our science. It has been one of the most successful systemic transformations in our society.”
Kiren Khathiah, a member of the National Arts Council, speaking in his personal capacity, said Jardine’s resignation was “a great disappointment”.
“If political disagreements do lie behind this, they need to be investigated. There should not be any cover-up.”
Sources say there has been a rapid deterioration in relationships in the department since Mtshali took over as minister from his predecessor, Ben Ngubane, now premier of KwaZulu-Natal, and particularly since the arrival of Xulu as a deputy director general.
“Under Ngubane, things ran very well. But now we have a situation where staff are extremely frustrated, and there is talk of loaded interviewing and appointment panels, and of candidates from Inkatha [Freedom Party] being preferred for jobs,” said one source.
“A planned memorial for the Battle of Blood River is clearly being exploited to fit in with Inkatha electioneering. I’ve heard that, on the day of the unveiling alone, they are planning to spend nearly R1- million,” the source added.
Another source spoke of “frustrations” and “obstacles” being placed in the way of a planned memorial in KwaDukuza for Albert Luthuli, the former president of the ANC and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who died in 1967.