Opposition political parties have criticised the decision to make Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang acting president in the absence of President Thabo Mbeki and his deputy, Jacob Zuma, on Monday.
Mbeki and Zuma are attending the Burundi peace talks in Tanzania, and are expected back in South Africa later in the day.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson Mike Waters said Tshabalala-Msimang was not fit to be South Africa’s minister of health, and ”she is most definitely not fit to be acting president”.
The DA believed Tshabalala-Msimang should be fired, while the African National Congress ”believes she should be promoted”, he said in a statement.
”The decision to make her acting president is a slap in the face for thousands of South Africans living with the effects of HIV/Aids.
”Never before has a single minister done so much to make life as difficult as possible for so many South Africans.
”She does not deserve any recognition or promotion for her time in office; she only deserves to be dismissed,” Waters said.
In a separate statement, United Democratic Movement spokesperson Nonhlanhla Nkabinde also condemned the move.
”We find it quite a surprising appointment for a person who on a number of occasions has demonstrated a spectacular inability to manage one portfolio, never mind combining it with the highest office.
”The highlight of her year has been to swear at and physically threaten an airline passenger,” she said.
Mbeki and the Constitutional Court were setting a wrong precedent by appointing a minister with a questionable reputation, ignoring quite a number of more credible people for the position, Nkabinde said. — Sapa