Making the grade
What the scores mean A: Take a bow. You’re doing an excellent job B: Good, but room for improvement C: You’re OK, but that’s all we can say for you D: Get your act together. You’re verging on useless E: Do yourself and the country a favour: resign F: You’re fired
Last year’s scores follow this year’s in brackets
Thabo Mbeki President
Grade: D (Last year A-)
This has not been a happy year. No one expected Thabo Mbeki to be Nelson Mandela. We just wanted him to be the president he is capable of being: on top of things intellectually, informed, rational, communicative, focused on the main issues, decisive and smart enough to be the morally generous leader of all South Africans a president delivering, not miracles, but results to the millions who need jobs, services and the material measures of human dignity. Oh, what a disappointing start it has been.
Mbeki’s ill-advised and stubborn involvement in the HIV/Aids controversy and the confusion it caused our national effort against the pandemic cost him, his reputation and the country dearly. It will for ever be a cloud over his intellectual and political judgement.
He patently misjudged the crisis in Zimbabwe. His (supposedly tactical) tolerance of Robert Mugabe’s antics made a nonsense of talk of an African renaissance founded on, among other things, respect for human rights, good governance and democracy. And, nine months into Zimbabwe’s crisis, it is clear that Mbeki has been outmanoeuvered by Mugabe and that drastic action may now be the only way to relieve Zimbabweans of the madman in their presidency.
Over the course of the year Mbeki’s party, his office and he himself became the source of often small-minded attacks on individual critics and all whites. The nasty spirit that informed these utterances impressed few, even among Mbeki’s comrades in the African National Congress. They evidently impressed the electorate even less.
At the same time, these charges were acid to Mbeki’s own and the ANC’s reputation at home and abroad. Many whites caricatured as racists in these attacks felt unable just to shrug off the insult; they concluded there was no place for them in South Africa and packed for Perth, Plymouth or Winnipeg taking with them desperately needed financial and human capital. Here was yet another failure of judgement by Mbeki and, more seriously, a shortfall in the moral generosity we need from the president if we are all to integrate ourselves within a shared sense of nationhood and move ahead as a country.
Mbeki has travelled incessantly overseas, peddling grandiose plans to save the continent or half the world. And the little piece of earth that has been directly entrusted to his care has suffered as a result. Mbeki has been unable to give South Africa the sustained managerial care it needs. Instead, he has seemed to subject it to binges of unsustainable micro-management.
Pockets of woeful inertia and ineptitude in his Cabinet and government have not been attended to. This has left the understandable impression that Mbeki’s attention is elsewhere, or that he does not care, or that he considers the comfort of the ANC nomenklatura more important than the welfare of the nation or that he lacks the political will to act against senior colleagues to correct these shortcomings.
Despite seemingly endless reviews of procedures in the presidency, there seem to be pitifully few if any proper information flows. Even less do there seem to be established criteria for assessing government programmes and policy outcomes. We hear repeatedly of “government by skinner”: of gossip with the president by Cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats about and against their colleagues providing the basis for decisions. This is no way to run a state as sophisticated as our own. To paraphrase the Irish poet our president is so fond of quoting: the centre is not holding.
Things have not yet fallen apart. They will soon, however, unless Mbeki uses his talents to work smart, unless he understands that he is in office to lead, not the world, but this country and all who live in it.
Jacob Zuma Deputy President Grade: B- (C)
The surprise package of the Mbeki Cabinet, Jacob Zuma has emerged on to the national political scene with something of a bang and, clearly, he is a heavyweight within the government. He has improved as a stand-in for the president in Parliament and his approach usually generates warmth, even among opposition MPs.
Within the Mbeki administration his role has increasingly become that of peacemaker. He has reached out to and mollified the disaffected groups, who have at different times included the trade unions, elements within the South African Communist Party and traditional leaders. He has recently put the same talent for peacemaking to good use in South Africa’s attempts to help rival factions in Burundi achieve an end to war.
He fine-tuned these skills during his period in KwaZulu-Natal trying to bring peace between the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party. For the first five years of democratic government, Zuma was the government’s point man in trying to reduce tensions in the province. His success was evident again in this year’s local government elections.
Although Zuma campaigned extensively in KwaZulu-Natal during the elections, the ANC did not fare well there, failing to win outright control of the Durban metropole as had been expected. Moreover, the IFP pushed up its share of the overall vote in the province. In part, this reflects Zuma’s withdrawal from direct involvement in the province’s affairs, and his replacement by some rather wacky ANC leaders prone to immature and bellicose public statements.
Within the presidency Zuma is seen as something of a gem. The hardworking ANC and Mbeki loyalist provides the president with solid back-up whenever needed, and he is not given to rocking the boat. However, his unequivocal support for the high-level investigation into alleged irregularities in South Africa’s R43-billion arms deal has demonstrated his commitment to clean government in a way that is not always obvious among some of his colleagues.
Zuma is taking on the mantle of leader of those in the government and ruling alliance who still believe the struggle for liberation was also a struggle for efficient and uncorrupt delivery.
His leadership of the government’s Aids council has, however, been unimaginative and uninspiring.
Kader Asmal Minister of Education Grade: B (A)
The bouncy little moustache has spent a packed year driving the most thoroughgoing reform of education ever seen in South Africa. His reforms deserve high praise for their animating vision. Few question Asmal’s intellectual mastery of his portfolio, as well as his hands-on, no-nonsense style. But can he rally to his cause his own education bureaucracy? And can that bureaucracy deliver on policies so painfully forged? Ah, there’s the rub.
The new programme for schools, Curriculum 2005, gave Asmal his first test of the year. It needed reviewing and the committee he appointed did a superb job. But at what cost? Teacher unions protested they had not been consulted on the committee’s makeup; education officials resented that their work on the new curriculum was under review; and ANC and Cabinet colleagues were less than pleased when Asmal went public with the review before briefing them.
Asmal tiptoed through the year’s other minefield, the Council on Higher Education’s proposals to restructure the tertiary landscape. This report will go to Cabinet only in January. Just as well: nearly every interest group in higher education has rejected its proposals.
Quite what Asmal will suggest to Cabinet has educationists on the edge of their seats. One thing is clear: he cannot possibly please everyone. End-of-year storm clouds are unlikely to clear. Education is in for a turbulent 2001. And there are suggestions that Mbeki may be about to give Asmal the long rest that comes at the end of every Cabinet minister’s term of office.
A for vision and for grasping the nettle of transformation. C for his handling of stakeholders, without whose support the finest policies will remain on the drawing board. On balance, B.
Ngconde Balfour Minister of Sport and Recreation Grade: B (B+)
The trouble with Ngconde Balfour, nice guy that he is, is that neither he nor the government really know what he should be doing.
Should he be the politically appointed boss of all sport in South Africa? Or should he restrict himself to issues of national policy, the public funding of sports development and shaking hands with visiting teams? These are important questions, particularly since much sport has become professional, involving big money.
Balfour, regrettably, feels he should be overall supremo, the ultimate controller of South African sport, and this is leading him into stormy waters. Witness his conflict with the National Olympic Committee of South Africa’s Sam Ramsamy. It may be that Ramsamy was responsible for South Africa’s dismal performance at the Sydney Olympics and the decision to bar the men’s hockey team the African champions from the games, but does this justify a politician interfering in the affairs of our Olympic committee? Should Balfour have played an active role in the appointment of the King commission into the Hansie Cronje affair? Would he not do better to keep his distance and leave sports administration to the accountable sports officials?
Balfour should be focusing on raising public and private funding for sports facilities and launching a national campaign to ensure that every child in South Africa has access to those facilities. While the government should be able to lay down broad national sports policy, particularly where funding is involved, it should keep its nose out of sports administration. Balfour has been unable to do that. Which is a real pity.
He is sincere and hardworking, but his judgement has let him down.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi Minister of Home Affairs Grade: F (F-)
Mangosuthu Buthelezi has helped build the peace in South Africa since 1994, but his contribution to good government is less auspicious.
Under his leadership, the Home Affairs ministry and department have been fraught with inefficiency, ineptitude and corruption. The bad light in which this behaviour has cast South Africa among potential foreign investors and highly skilled immigration applicants has cost the country dearly. And South Africans who experienced the hospitality of other countries during the struggle against apartheid must shudder in shame at the treatment meted out to many asylum seekers from states to our north.
What makes this state of affairs doubly serious is that there is little sign that there has been any improvement since this situation came to light late last year. Moreover, it is apparent from Buthelezi’s high-handed refusal to allow his new Director General, Billy Masethla, to appear before a parliamentary committee, that he is not willing to give his officials their head.
Buthelezi also hit the headlines when the Mail & Guardian revealed he had carried plastic bags containing R50 notes into a bank and deposited the money in his account. Were it not for the need to indulge Buthelezi in order to keep the peace in KwaZulu-Natal, he could not expect to survive in the Cabinet nor should he.
Thoko Didiza Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs Grade: D+ (C)
Why does the government still keep these two significant departments within one ministry? We don’t know. Both are immensely demanding, with the result that Thoko Didiza often seems to fall between the two.
Developing agriculture requires the full-time attention of a minister. This is particularly necessary in view of the collapse of some export markets, notably that for our fruit industry. If this and similar problems are not addressed effectively and soon, the result could be further impoverishment of rural areas.
Equally, human issues on farms both the conditions of farm workers and the attacks on farmers should be getting more hands-on attention. Didiza knows the problems in the industry and has taken some steps to address them, but she seems less than effective.
There has been greater progress on land restitution this year, and she deserves credit for this. But, as Didiza has noted, land reform is not just about transferring land. It should also be focused on developing the land after it has been restored or redistributed. In particular, the development of economically viable farms, even if small-scale, is critical if reform is to succeed.
It is difficult to know whether Didiza’s mid-year statement that South Africa should look to Zimbabwe for lessons on land reform was populist pre-election talk or just carelessness. Whatever, such was the damage it did that it might have been an issue on which Mbeki called for her resignation. It certainly blurred her impact.
Didiza needs to be more focused. Persuading Mbeki to give someone else one of her portfolios would be a starting point.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Minister of Foreign Affairs Grade: C (B-)
The imperious Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is more envoy for the presidency than political head of her department when it comes to the making and breaking of foreign policy.
Desk officers at her department are seldom briefed on her travels and the deals made, and are even less often asked for advice. The locus of foreign policy expertise is, supposedly, now the presidency. One result is that many in the department now consider themselves glorified travel agents. A second is poor morale. A third is that Dlamini-Zuma’s deputy, Aziz Pahad, has a surfeit of free time, which he uses among things to write angry letters to the M&G.
Dlamini-Zuma’s able Director General, Sipho Pityana, has an unenviable task trying to hold together a department rendered largely residual. Not that he is given to complaint. He goes to great lengths to ascertain and communicate the government’s foreign policy perspectives to the outside world. And he appears to have absorbed remarkably quickly the essence of Mbeki’s thinking.
Knowledgeable observers of Africa’s Great Lakes region give Dlamini-Zuma high marks for the interventions she made in the first half of the year. Although these initiatives did not produce any concrete results, they have, they say, often been clever and skilfully handled. Dlamini-Zuma is not famed for subtlety, but she is, apparently, capable of it.
Like the Department of Health, foreign affairs is another section of government held hostage to Mbeki’s high opinion of his own expertise.
Alec Erwin Minister of Trade and Industry Grade: C (B+)
Erwin gets bouquets and brickbats in equal measure from the business people and trade unionists most affected by his department.
Many praise his vision and understanding of what needs doing; as many say his delivery is deficient, that his department is in chaos and that big internal changes there are no excuse for its deficiencies. For their part, Erwin’s comrades in the SACP suggest, quite plausibly, that he has spent too little time on the industry side of his ministry and department, being too preoccupied with getting the South Africa-European Union trade deal through.
Industry means jobs; it can also mean export-led growth. This is where much of Erwin’s attention must now fall. The greatest failure by his department, however, has been in the associated area of small- and micro-business promotion. We must get this right, or our future as a prosperous and stable country is in doubt. Erwin’s department is now headed by a new Director General, Alistair Ruiters, who claims to specialise in this area. There is, therefore, no excuse for further farce in organisations supposed to promote this development.
Erwin’s great contribution has been his involvement in the troika, along with Mbeki and Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel, that has kept a firm hand on the tiller of the economy in what have been very stormy international seas.
Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi Minister of Public Service and Administration Grade: D (B)
Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi is one of the great survivors of Mbeki’s Cabinet. How anyone has the chutzpah to accept a second Cabinet post after leaving the kind of mess she did at the former Department of Welfare and Population Development is a source of some amazement. It is, genuinely, a feat to head a ministry and welfare department that manages to spend only 1% of its R204-million poverty relief budget. It is even more remarkable that a president can keep such a conspicuous non-achiever in any position.
Nonetheless, her performance at public service has not been bad. Like Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe, she is a member of the SACP and, like him, she has been given the job of taming her comrades in the public service and corralling them into neo-liberal paradise. How she justifies this to herself in her private moments, we are not privileged to know. But it can’t be easy.
If she and her Cabinet colleagues, Mbeki in particular, hold their nerve, Fraser-Moleketi could deliver the far-reaching reform of the public service that will release funds for much-needed capital investment in other parts of the economy. If she achieves that, we will have to view her in an entirely new and more favourable light.
Ronnie Kasrils Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Grade: B+ (B+)
At last Ronnie Kasrils’s skills are being put to good use. A cunning guerrilla leader in the apartheid era, he now leads the counter-insurgency campaign against alien infiltration. Whereas in the past his tactics turned on the anvil of mass action and the hammer of armed struggle, today Green (once Red) Ronnie wields the sickle against the dreaded invader. Day after day, he and his forces weed out pockets of Port Jackson willow, black wattle, and oleander and cluster pine. Local is, indeed, lekker.
Kasrils has taken to his other portfolio like a duck to water. When he took over the relatively well-run ministry from Asmal, it seemed that he might be overshadowed by the era of the bouncy little moustache. But the hairier Kasrils has put his distinctive stamp on the portfolio, and won hearts and minds in the process. Kasrils saw sense in the proposal by the Water For All Campaign that each person should enjoy a minimum of free water each day. And this is due to become the norm across the country. Kasrils and his department now have the problem of implementing this promise. He admitted in Parliament in June that eight million people in rural areas do not have access to clean water, and 20-million rural people do not have acceptable sanitation. He has his work cut out.
The commercialisation of state forests is proceeding more slowly than many would like. And this is an area in which Kasrils needs to be bolder.
Green Ronnie is a different animal from Struggle Ronnie. But, in one respect, he’s the same. As those who worked with him during the struggle will confirm, he has always been Delivery Ronnie. He’s not doing a bad job at all.
Mosiuoa Lekota Minister of Defence Grade: C+ (B)
Mosiuoa Lekota has drunk from the poison chalice of the Ministry of Defence and thus far survived. His difficulties are immense. Some of his departmental officials are the subject of the inquiry into possible improper behaviour in the course of negotiations for South Africa’s R43-billion arms deal; tensions between black and white South African National Defence Force (SANDF) personnel remain high in a number of installations around the country; morale in the under-resourced army, navy and air force is low; and Lekota may soon have to oversee the deployment of South African forces on peacekeeping duty to the Democratic Republic of Congo at a time when, cynics say, the SANDF would not survive a clash with the Salvation Army.
None are problems of Lekota’s making and, to his credit, he has not added to his inherited difficulties a tribute to his usually acute political instincts. He has declared his determination to ensure that the inquiry into possible wrongdoing in the arms deal is conducted with the full cooperation of his department and himself. The real test of his will on that point probably lies early in the new year when the agencies involved in the inquiry start to report back to Parliament’s public accounts committee.
Penuell Maduna Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Grade: C- (C+)
After a good start in 1999, Penuell Maduna’s performance has waned. He has made no significant headway in tackling the enormous problems besetting the criminal justice system. Instead, he has trundled along making bombastic, and generally meaningless, statements about crime and the courts. He went out on a limb endorsing plans for a merger of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal an idea that, for now, has effectively been frozen by the country’s top judges. Maduna has not surrounded himself with sufficiently capable advisers, and he is rumoured to have a rusty working relationship with his department.
On the plus side, Maduna has been frank about the challenges confronting him in particular the dangerous cocktail of a low prosecution rate, poor management and case backlogs. Maduna has also got better at public relations. He visited dire magistrate’s courts and hosted a legal colloquium. That top-level meeting, among other things, torpedoed his plans for a merged super court, but it nevertheless proved a useful gathering of the country’s most senior legal minds.
Maduna’s standing in government and in the ANC remains unscathed by his ridiculous three-year battle with former auditor general Henri Kluever. Parliament has yet to decide how to sanction Maduna for his unfounded attack on Kluever when he was in the minerals and energy slot despite the fact that it is a year since the Public Protector ruled against the minister.
Trevor Manuel Minister of Finance Grade: A (A-)
Manuel is the most consistent performer in the Cabinet. He keeps his wits when many around him would be inclined to lose theirs; he has mastered the art of mouthing platitudes but making them sound momentous; he’s developed a remarkable grasp of economics; he has the personal confidence to maintain around him a first-class team of officials; he’s earned the respect of the markets; and he has the political will to stare down any in the Cabinet, the bureaucracy and the provinces tempted to overspend.
Events very substantially beyond his control Zimbabwe, Mbeki’s ill-judged interventions over the crisis in that country and HIV/Aids, together with the unfashionability of emerging markets among investors played havoc with the value of the rand. But the currency’s decline would certainly have been more precipitate had Manuel not been around to reassure the markets.
This year’s medium-term expenditure framework seemed to contain the grain of an admission that he and his counterpart at the Reserve Bank may have erred too greatly on the side of fiscal prudence. The framework suggested a shift towards increased government spending to stimulate the economy. Does this prefigure a fundamental policy shift? We are assured not.
The great pity, as we head into 2001, lies in the rumour that Maria Ramos, Manuel’s immensely able director general on whom he has often leaned for technical advice, wants out. Word is she’s tired and feels the need to move on. If, sadly, she does go, she will be an immense asset to whomever is fortunate enough to employ her. But how will Trevor do without Maria?
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri Minister of Communications Grade: F (D)
Helloo-oo! Anybody there? Anybody in the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting? Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri is so low profile it is difficult to know, let alone assess, what she has been doing over the past 12 months.
If ever there was a government department firmly under the control of its director general this is it. Andile Ngcaba, whose contract has just been renewed by the Cabinet for another three years, rules supreme.
The Post Office, we are assured, is running more efficiently and most cost-effectively. But, for the public, it has resulted in fewer post offices. When Matsepe-Casaburri was questioned about the R180-million contract between the New Zealand Post Office and the South African Post Office, she said three consultants were not being paid. But when the opposition disclosed they were being paid R75 000 a month in expenses and a collective monthly salary of R900 000, Matsepe-Casaburri went silent.
At this stage, the initial public offering of Telkom is set to go ahead, but further delays look likely. Controversy over deals that may have accompanied the award of the third mobile cellular licence will not go away. An e-commerce white paper has been published, and roundly criticised.
It all seems so messy and lacking in political leadership. Perhaps this suits the bureaucrats. Let Matsepe-Casaburri take all the flak while they do (or do not do) as they see fit. Dear Ivy has been utterly unable to put her stamp on the department, let alone rein in the all-powerful Ngcaba. It is strange, indeed, that Mbeki retains her services in the Cabinet.
Membathisi Mdladlana Minister of Labour Grade: C+ (B)
The big thing going for Membathisi Mdladlana is that he revels in his job. He’s interested in it, he enthuses about it and he seems to enjoy doing it all of which make him an unusual member of the Cabinet. He even managed to get excited about a report into reducing the length of South Africa’s working week that produced a yes-but-no-perhaps-some-other-time recommendation. His attitude helps make him one of the better-performing members of Mbeki’s team. Backed by his able Director General, Rams Ramashia, Mdladlana has handled a difficult year passably well.
He has put in place comprehensive legislation on skills development, and he has had the courage to propose some tricky changes to labour legislation that has outraged the unions. The crunch will come next year when he has to implement the skills legislation and, particularly, when he has to decide whether to face down the unions, which are threatening a national strike in March if he doesn’t cave in.
From the point of view of those in the ruling party and Cabinet who favour labour market liberalisation, the next year will be the ideal time to move decisively for changes leaving the ruling ANC two years ahead of the general election in 2004 to repair damage to the alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the left wing within the SACP.
Few doubt that Mdladlana has the stomach for the battle if it comes. He will need to have his wits about him, though.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka Minister of Minerals and Energy Grade: A (B)
Unlike her predecessor Maduna, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has generally avoided controversy and quietly got on with the job.
That said, it is difficult to pin down precisely what she has done. She has given her imprimatur to the notion that 25% of the oil industry should end up in black hands. It is a fine idea, but we have yet to see details about how it will be met. Other policy highlights include the “use it or lose it” mining laws that have unsettled South Africa’s staid mining houses.
Mlambo-Ngcuka has had her fair share of controversy. First there has been the continuing saga of the Government Diamond Valuator and its clashes with De Beers over the valuation of diamonds up for export. And then there has been her handling of the latest scandal to rock the state oil industry the privatisation by stealth of the country’s strategic fuel stock. The minister kept quiet about the scandal for a couple of months until it was exposed in the M&G, after which she was admirably feisty in her handling of the matter. She has launched two new investigations into the extraordinary multimillion-rand deal that was signed off by senior officials at the state oil company.
The test will be how she handles any findings against the state employees involved and whether, as was the case with her predecessor’s handling of the previous state oil scandal, she opts for a cover-up.
Mohammed Valli Moosa Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Grade: A (A)
Mohammed Valli Moosa is more than just a pretty bum. What a joy it is to see a minister obviously committed to and delighted to be handling his portfolio. He has traversed the country promoting environmental issues and projects. He is enthusiastically promoting growth in tourism and its capacity for job creation. Not a moment too soon, he declared war on our “national flower”, the ubiquitous plastic bag. And he then demonstrated sensible pragmatism in negotiations with the plastics industry on implementing new regulations. He also issued a white paper on integrated pollution and waste management. In both cases, the principle is: polluters must pay to clean up.
Valli Moosa has worked hard to bring the R+10 conference (Rio 10 years later) to South Africa and he deserves full credit for succeeding. It is due to be staged in Johannesburg in 2002.
He also took decisive action to clean up decades of corruption and mismanagement in the fishing industry. There’s a long way to go as the protest vote for the DA by Western Cape fishermen in the recent local government elections underlined. But the appointment of Horst Kleinschmidt to head of Marine and Coastal Management was a masterstroke. It says the government means business.
Indeed, his other major appointments including Chippy Olver as Director General and JJ Tabane as his representative show he wants action, and that his key criterion for appointing staff is ability. This has, predictably, ruffled a few feathers. So far, so good, Valli Moosa.
Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele Minister of Housing Grade: C- (C)
The Ministry of Housing trots out all sorts of documents, figures, schemes and structures to show they think they are doing a good job. They have certainly had some impact. But the problem is that all can see informal settlements are increasing throughout the country, Moreover, the building of rows and rows of Reconstruction and Development houses in the same style as the old apartheid townships is no solution.
These failings are not, of course, solely Mthembi-Mahanyele’s fault. Local and provincial governments, as well as the private sector, are all directly involved in providing housing, while the role of the national department is to devise policy and help with funding. But there doesn’t seem to be the urgency and vision coming from Mthembi-Mahanyele to tackle the housing crisis. Likewise, she gives us few grounds to hope that we will live to see the day when there is no more squatter housing in South Africa.
Calls for greater focus on the development of communities rather than merely building houses which have come from, among others, the University of Cape Town’s David Dewar deserve her urgent attention.
Mthembi-Mahanyele could do a lot more to bring housing delivery and community development to its rightful position near the top of everyone’s agenda.
Sydney Mufamadi Minister of Provincial and Local Government Grade: D (C+)
Some day, one day, Sydney Mufamadi will be given a job suited to his talents. Safety and Security was not it. Nor is Local Government. Nor would it be the Ministry of Silly Spectacles, or even of Silly Walks.
Mufamadi is an utterly useless communicator. No doubt this means we are less able to appreciate his achievements. But there is little concrete evidence of these achievements in either of his ministerial incarnations.
His ministry and department with more than a little help from the presidency, it must be said only just avoided leading us into an almighty cock-up with traditional leaders that would have endangered the local government elections. For all Mufamadi’s ponderous reflections on the issue, he hardly seemed to understand what he was dealing with. He is saved from complete ignominy by his work coordinating the rebuilding of rural communities in the wake of the floods in the north of the country.
Ben Ngubane Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Grade: A- (B+)
When rumours surfaced earlier this year that the likeable Ben Ngubane was to be the IFP’s mayoral candidate in Durban’s metropolitan council, there was dismay within his department and the government.
The thought that he might be replaced by no less than Lionel Mtshali ?was more than some could take. Fortunately, the rumours about his redeployment to Durban proved false.
He and his new Director General, Rob Adam, demonstrated firm leadership when the department’s deputy director general, Musa Xulu, was suspended for his role in the awarding of government contracts. There was, however, some criticism of his oversight of the Pretoria State Theatre from which about R16-million disappeared. Questions are also being asked about the government’s policies and funding of galleries and museums, and about the department’s rather feeble support of the craft sector in which so many South Africans eke out a living.
The promotion of science and technology, particularly in schools, remains a priority for the department, although its effectiveness is unclear. Still, despite the shortage of funds and the criticisms, Ngubane remains an effective minister and a valuable team player in the Cabinet.
Joe Nhlanhla Minister of Intelligence Grade: F (F)
Few appointments, going back even to his days in the ANC in exile, have been less appropriate than Joe Nhlanhla’s designation as head of intelligence. What aptitudes qualify him for the post are a mystery to outsiders and intelligence insiders alike. Stories of his inability to grasp the import of what is going on around him abound. And he has singularly failed to forge a single, united intelligence service out of the ANC and former apartheid services. This failure was in no sense inevitable; instead, intelligence professionals were better equipped than most in the new era to find common ground.
Nhlanhla is now ill. While we wish him a speedy recovery, we do not hope for his return as minister of intelligence. Time is long overdue to find a new and better qualified individual.
Dullah Omar Minister of Transport Grade: E (C)
Dullah Omar is as about low-key as a minister can get. This gives the impression, perhaps even unjustified, that he is not on top of his portfolio, particularly as it affects public transport. He is certainly trotted out on the right occasions such as the launch of the latest Drive Alive campaign and his scheduled speeches in Parliament. But that’s about it.
He acts as though his transfer from justice last year was a demotion. It seems his heart is not in his portfolio. If that is the case, and he can’t work up enthusiasm, he should resign and contribute to the legislative process as a senior MP.
The country’s public transport system, both bus and train, is deteriorating. There is no earthly reason why the major cities should not have efficient and safe commuter train systems, which also run outside office hours. But no one seems to be paying this need the slightest attention.
Government subsidies for trains and buses continue to be substantial. Yet government is, apparently, doing nothing to ensure that they result in the provision of a decent service or, failing that, that they are phased out. The taxi capitalisation plan also appears stalled hopefully only temporarily.
Meanwhile, safety and conditions on the roads deteriorate. The shortage of traffic officers means road hogs often get away with little short of murder. And the maintenance backlog on the country’s roads continues to increase as Omar’s own replies to parliamentary questions confirm.
What is needed is decisive leadership. This was provided by the previous minister, Mac Maharaj. But those foundations have not been built upon.
Essop Pahad Minister In the Office of the President Grade: D- (C)
Essop Pahad has deservedly earned two credits in the year. But that is about it.
One credit was for the proposal for the establishment of a Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA). The second was for the development of a coherent strategy on disability.
On paper at least, the MDDA is a sensible plan to promote greater diversity in the media and to make information more accessible to all sections of the community. The extent of disability, particularly among rural people, and the lack of access to public amenities for disabled people is a serious problem. But Pahad is leading the charge to deal with this problem.
That said, Pahad has come to represent much that is wrong with the Mbeki presidency. He appears obsessed with manipulating situations, often in crass and easily identifiable fashion, in an attempt to bolster and protect the president and his office. In the process, he succeeds only in increasing the president’s isolation from the rest of us, even from ANC MPs. His frequently blustering speeches in Parliament impress few and also do him and the presidency no good.
Although thoroughly disliked both within the ruling alliance and outside it, he remains close to Mbeki and plays a powerful role within government. He cannot, therefore, be ignored. But his standing everywhere but in the presidency continues to decline.
Jeff Radebe Minister of Public Enterprises Grade: D (B+)
How do you hold up a blue flag and persuade your comrades it’s red? How do you sell privatisation to those who want socialisation? How sorry should we all feel for Jeff Radebe?
His ideological gymnastics over the course of the year recall the exasperated response of a Russian talk show host who, when recently asked by a confused listener for a definition of communism, responded that it was “the longest and most painful transition from capitalism … to capitalism”.
It took Radebe some practice before he actually managed the necessary somersault. A variety of deadlines for the appearance of a policy framework for privatisation whoops, that should read “restructuring of state enterprises” came and went. Eventually, at about the fourth time of promising, the framework was released to howls of derision from some in the marketplace, who said it resembled a poor graduate essay, and to howls of betrayal from the far left.
Stella Sigcau Minister of Public Works Grade: E- (F)
For some reason Mbeki still sees the need to keep the old Transkei politician in his Cabinet, perhaps to reduce resistance to change from traditional leaders and to limit defections to Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement in the former homeland.
It certainly can’t be for her role as a minister. After a somewhat undistinguished performance at public enterprises she is now continuing in similar fashion at public works.
Fortunately for her, the appointment of the competent Thami Sokutu as Director General of her department has, until now, saved her political bacon. Even so, it is not easy to see what has been achieved this year. A number of large properties and military bases are to be sold or leased over the next five years, although there does not seem to be any great urgency to get on with it.
Still, there are a few signs that the department may be getting its act together. Among other things, it is involved in the R374-million-a-year Community-based Public Works Programme to provide agricultural infrastructure. Imagine what could happen with more inspired political leadership at the top? A diplomatic posting to Albania is long overdue.
Ben Skosana Minister of Correctional Services Grade: B- (F)
Ben Skosana is not the most charismatic of politicians nor does he possess the gift of the gab. But he inherited a portfolio that was a mess and a correctional services commissioner, one Khulekani Sitole, who used his office to run a professional soccer team and look after his own interests rather than rehabilitate a rundown prisons service.
This year Skosana has consolidated the service, instilled some discipline and morale and persuaded the thoughtful Judge Johannes Fagan to take up the appointment of Inspecting Judge of Correctional Services. The results were soon evident: Judge Fagan soon realised that we had to confront the drastic overcrowding of prisons which accommodate more than 170 000 prisoners in jails built to accommodate about 100 000 and, in particular, the continued detention of juveniles.
The easier option would have been to avoid the problem and pander to the short-sighted sentiment of “nail them and jail them”. The harsh reality is, however, that the prisons are filled with awaiting-trial prisoners and a high proportion of people serving custodial sentences simply because they could not afford to pay bail or fines.
Keeping people in jail simply because they are poor is absurd, and he sensibly persuaded Cabinet to begin a selective release programme and press ahead with the construction of new prisons. He is also backing proposals for a new, more coherent justice system to cover children.
Serious problems continue to afflict the prisons service, and questions have been raised about the suitability of Sitole’s successor, Lulamile Mbete. But Skosana, despite his low profile, has done rather well.
Zola Skweyiya Minister of Social Development Grade: C+ (D)
The change of the name of the Department of Welfare and Population Development to the more goal-orientated Department of Social Development reflects a welcome commitment by Zola Skweyiya. He recognises the need for financial relief to the poor, the aged and the disabled, but is convinced this must be done within a developmental framework. In this way, he has given his department a new sense of mission.
He inherited a shambles. There had been numerous changes of director general over the previous five years, culminating in the scandalous state of affairs disclosed in February by Auditor General Shauket Fakie that in 1998 less than 1% of the R204-million earmarked for poverty relief had been spent. Skweyiya frankly admitted in Parliament, to the discomfort of his predecessor, Fraser-Moleketi, that, after five years of ANC rule, the welfare department was still failing millions of poor South Africans.
Skweyiya undertook an eight-week trip through seven provinces evaluating poverty, HIV-Aids and social welfare programmes. He brought some realism and urgency to the ridiculous debate within government ranks about Aids when he called on Mbeki to institute a Marshall Plan to tackle the Aids “time bomb” that is expected to kill six million South Africans over the next 10 years. And his department is quietly investigating the provision of a basic income grant intended to help the very poor and out-of-work South Africans.
Chronic problems persist, however, with pension and welfare payments. Actual delivery of these to beneficiaries is still undertaken mainly by the provinces, but Skweyiya’s department must lead in finding a solution to the suffering caused by these inefficiencies. Restructuring of the department is taking time, but Skweyiya and his Director General, Angela Bester, have been providing leadership where previously there seemed little.
Manto Tshabalala-Msimang Minister of Health Grade: E- (C+)
Perhaps it is not entirely her fault. But the way Manto Tshabalala-Msimang allowed herself to appear to be backing Mbeki’s eccentric views on HIV/Aids in a string of confrontations with journalists over the course of the year has undermined her ability to be an effective health minister.
That is over and above the harm her behaviour caused our attempts to fight the pandemic. Her actions may have been politically pragmatic, but they did her credibility no good. And it is a serious problem if the minister of health cannot provide clear leadership on the major health threat facing a country.
This is all a great pity because, shortly after her appointment last year, Tshabalala-Msimang seemed like a breath of fresh air following Dlamini-Zuma’s imperious reign.
Tshabalala-Msimang has also to get to grips with a range of other projects run by her department, among them the nutritional scheme for schoolchildren for which her department is responsible overall.
It is difficult to find adjectives sufficiently strong to condemn inefficiency that results in the non-expenditure year after year of money already allocated for daily nutritional supplements for millions of our poorest children.
She faces other, major challenges. TB is wreaking havoc and malaria is spreading exponentially. Many dedicated professionals are working hard to deal with these health problems. But can she provide the necessary leadership? It has been a bad year for Tshabalala-Msimang.
Steve Tshwete Minister of Safety and Security Grade: D (B+)
Last year, on hearing the ferocity of Steve Tshwete’s bark, we lived in hope that the criminal classes would soon feel his bite. But, alas, this year we have barely heard him growl.
There is no doubt Tshwete has the toughest job in the government, but he gave us every impression that he relished the challenge when Mbeki appointed him in June 1999. When Jackie Selebi, formerly director general at foreign affairs, joined him as Commissioner of Police, he too spoke tough and promised action.
But, for all their posturing, the two have given us little sign that they are getting on top of things. Their embargo on the release of crime statistics did nothing to increase public confidence in them, and they should not be surprised if, as a result, any future statistics showing a fall in crime are treated with scepticism.
The pressure on them has begun to show, particularly in the case of Selebi. A man renowned for his temper, he has lost it on several occasions recently, leading to embarrassing gaffes. One such explosion resulted in Selebi’s ridiculous decision eventually rescinded to end Cape Town’s highly successful rent-a-cop scheme in which business contributes to the costs of putting extra police on the beat. The fact that Selebi did so at the height of campaigning for the local government elections led some to suggest the former ANC youth leader had become a DA mole. We have received no indication that Tshwete has remonstrated with Selebi over these incidents.
Helloo-oo, Steve! You there?
Tony Leon Leader of the Opposition Grade: D (B-)
Only saved from an “E” by his spirited stand against the government’s abandonment of the millions of South Africans who have been infected by HIV.
Leon’s performance in the long-running duel with Mbeki on the subject was impressive, but he is in danger of developing an obsession with the so-called “Stalinist” leanings of the ANC that blinkers his approach to the opposition role.
True, his pugnacious, often snarling demeanour has changed the face of South African liberalism from the lachrymose to the leonine. He has swallowed and digested the New National Party in six months. And, in six years, he has taken his party from under 2% of voter support to 23%.
However, it is difficult to understand how a man with the experience and education of Leon can fail to see that, by his alliance with the discredited Nationalists of yesteryear, he has merely taken this country back in time. Leon has been resurrecting old divisions, landing his followers including much of liberal South Africa on what they have long recognised to be the losing side. A move designed to widen his support base threatens to make him irrelevant to the future of the country.