BARRY STREEK AND MUNGO SOGGOT, Johannesburg | Friday
BILLY Masetlha, the controversy-shrouded Director General of the Department of Home Affairs, is being tipped to head the new Presidential Intelligence Unit (PIU).
The PIU will be housed in the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and will report directly to the Office of the President. Minister of Intelligence Lindiwe Sisulu said in Parliament recently that the four-person unit was on track to start working in October.
It has been rumoured for some time that Masetlha would return to intelligence circles, but the NIA could not confirm the appointment. Given his intelligence background, there is a logic to the rumours. Before working at the home affairs department, Masetlha served in ANC intelligence and headed the South African Secret Service. A home affairs representative quoted him this week as saying he had not been approached to take the job.
Masetlha’s transfer to the PIU would defuse the controversy around his alleged failure to renew his lapsed contract as director general, which has infuriated Minister of Home Affairs Mangosuthu Buthelezi and left the department without a legally responsible accounting officer. It would involve no loss of seniority, as the post of PIU head will be on the same hierarchical level as that of director general.
Masetlha has been embroiled in a lengthy conflict with Buthelezi, who was unhappy about his appointment as director general by President Thabo Mbeki.
Among the flashpoints is Masetlha’s alleged persistent failure to consult the minister and other officials.
A legal opinion obtained by Buthelezi reveals that he told the Director General in the Office of the President, Frank Chikane, on June 20 that “the president accepted the minister’s indication that the minister was not prepared to work with or suffer Mr Masetlha any longer”, and that “the president would not impose Mr Masetlha on the minister”. It was also disclosed at a recent meeting of Parliament’s public accounts committee that Masetlha had clashed with home affairs’s internal audit committee.
At a press briefing last week, Buthelezi confirmed there were “problems”, but would not elaborate. He said he had received two legal opinions contradicting Masetlha’s claim to have valid contract.
Presidential representative Bheki Khumalo told the Mail & Guardian this week Masetlha’s position was being discussed by Mbeki and Buthelezi. “We don’t think the problems are insurmountable.”
Continuing African National Congress challenges to Buthelezi’s authority on matters in his portfolio have prompted speculation of a low-level war of attrition designed to nudge him into retirement.
The challenges include the dispute over Masetlha, incessant delays over the Immigration Bill, the government’s failure to draft what Buthelezi considers an acceptable law on traditional leaders, and the appointment of the Van Zyl Slabbert committee on electoral reform.
Asked whether he thought the ANC’s governing coalition with the Inkatha Freedom Party might be at risk, Khumalo replied: “There is no suggestion of a break-up. Only those who do not understand the transformation project and the need to consolidate our democracy would make such claims. We are of the view that Chief Buthelezi has an important role to play, and he continues to play that role. The fact that he has been acting president on a number of occasions shows the regard President Mbeki has for him. Likewise Chief Buthelezi has expressed his regard for the president.”
At last week’s briefing Buthelezi was asked directly whether ANC Cabinet members were obstructing him. He said: “I don’t think it would be fair to say that I am being hamstrung by my colleagues in the Cabinet.”
He added, however, that the Immigration Bill had gone through “a very long process, even in Cabinet itself” and that he was “troubled about all these hitches” with the Bill.
The Bill has been six years in the making. In his state of the nation address this year Mbeki promised that it would be speedily processed through Parliament as part of a package of business-friendly measures. The private sector has long complained about home affairs’s bureaucratic delays in processing permit applications for foreign skilled workers.
The latest impediment is parliamentary Speaker Frene Ginwala’s insistence that the Bill must be processed as a money Bill, in part because it provides for a training levy on employers. This is a slap in the face for Buthelezi, as the legislation would be introduced to Parliament by Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel, rather than himself. It would also mean sending the Bill to Parliament’s finance committee, rather than the home affairs committee.
Insisting there was nothing wrong with the Bill, Buthelezi warned this week that he would approach the Constitutional Court on the money Bill issue.
At the same time, home affairs committee chairperson Aubrey Mokoena – who filibustered the Bill at great length last year, suggesting it be taken back to square one – has accused Buthelezi of an unconstitutional attempt to circumvent Parliament.
On Thursday there were hints of a compromise on the Bill. Buthelezi offered to remove three clauses dealing with money matters, enabling it to be introduced by himself and processed by the home affairs committee.
Senior counsel Jeremy Gauntlett has proposed technical amendments aimed at averting litigation. Buthelezi gave Ginwala until Friday to reverse her decision or see him in court.