Wally Mbhele and Ferial Haffajee
Jay Naidoo’s future as Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting hangs in the balance as tensions with his department’s officials have reached the deputy president’s office.
With elections looming, the jockeying for Cabinet posts has begun and Naidoo could be an early casualty. There is a persistent rumour that Free State Premier Ivy Matsepe- Casaburri will inherit his post. She has broadcasting experience from her tenure as the chair of the board of the SABC.
Insiders say that Naidoo is showing a lack of interest in politics. They point out that he will be on a three-week rally in Africa next week as the hustings get under way just 10 weeks shy of the election. He did not attend the African National Congress lists conference. A senior party member says he is “very remote and not focused. He is obviously stressed.”
It appears that Deputy President Thabo Mbeki has been drawn into the fray by senior departmental officials. For months, relations between Naidoo and Director General Andile Ngcaba have been severely strained in a battle that has spanned all three of the portfolios which fall under their control, and one of them must go. Ngcaba, a former exile, is said to be a part of Mbeki’s inner circle.
Naidoo was approached for comment on these issues a week ago, but had not responded at the time of going to press. Mbeki’s representative, Ronnie Mamoepa, said he was not aware of alleged tensions between Naidoo and Ngcaba. However, Mamoepa said ministers and director generals are in constant contact and communication with Mbeki to discuss matters of mutual concern.
Sources said initially the relationship between Ngcaba and Naidoo was good. “Naidoo left a lot of departmental work to Ngcaba when he took office. Ngcaba and other officials then seized that autonomy and started exercising some influence over policy matters,” said a senior communications department official.
But recently ideological and personal schisms have developed. Certain incidents are blamed for the breakdown: Naidoo’s intervention in the e.tv licence debacle; his decision to okay a multimillion-rand deal between the SABC and M-Net; and his decision to waive the government’s pre- emptive rights on any sale of MTN shares.
In the past two months, a key piece of legislation, the broadcasting Bill, was returned by the president’s office while Naidoo had to backtrack on his decision to award two new cellular telephone licences. This has further exacerbated tension between the two because Naidoo had to take the rap for some policy plans he scarcely had a hand in.
On the other hand, some senior officials have often felt “aggrieved by Naidoo’s approach to sensitive broadcasting issues. When e.tv was at loggerheads with the Independent Broadcasting Authority, Naidoo sought to intervene directly.”
It also appears that Naidoo was at odds with senior departmental officials when he exerted his influence to secure appointments at Telkom without consulting Ngcaba. One of these appointments, it is alleged, is Mbeki’s former representative, Ricky Naidoo, who is now an account manager at Telkom’s corporate communications department.
Naidoo’s standing as a minister is being questioned in the ANC as he is seen as not being able to manage his portfolio. In 1996, his post as minister without portfolio was scrapped partly because it was a badly structured ministry but also because it was felt that he did not have the seniority to secure the support of other Cabinet ministers.
“That was a nasty blow to him which took the wind out of his sails,” said a senior member of the ANC. “Then he was shunted into a ministry away from the mainstream.”
Some believe that Naidoo’s historical links with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the emotional support he still enjoys from the trade union movement will assure him a Cabinet position after the elections.
But others say that he has moved too far from his labour constituency “for them to make a noise about his removal”.
“His status as a minister was again called into question as he was overlooked by the [ANC media] subcommittee. There are a number of policy decisions where he was not involved. I would definitely say he is iced,” said a source in Naidoo’s ministry.
Those close to Naidoo say he has adopted a what-will-be-will-be stance. He is keen on completing key tasks like the privatisation of Telkom; improving the telecommunication and technology infrastructure on the continent; the granting of the third cellular telephone licence and the contracting of a strategic managing partner for the Post Office to make it run efficiently.