Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile has denied media reports that he supports the curbing of President Thabo Mbeki’s powers to hire and fire provincial premiers.
”The unscrupulous allegations quoted the minister as saying that ‘the appointment of premiers by the president should be changed’. The minister vehemently denies these reports with great contempt,” his office said in a statement on Monday.
It said while the reports were correct to say that the minister had addressed mourners at the funeral of the late chairperson of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union in the Eastern Cape at Lusikisiki on Sunday, his comments at the gathering were misinterpreted.
He in fact said the national general council of the African National Congress last year proposed that the ANC should revisit this prerogative.
In the Eastern Cape, it was then decided that the resolution would be discussed at the ANC’s provincial conference in June.
”In his capacity as chairperson of the ANC in the Eastern Cape, the minister wishes to categorically deny this malicious claim and views this untruthful and biased reporting as total disregard for integrity and honesty,” his office said.
”I condemn with the strongest available terms these reports and further wish to clarify that I was quoted out of context. Such bias and rhetoric reporting is not good for our democracy at a time when we are hosting our democratic local government elections,” said the minister.
”The national general council had resolved that this question be referred back for discussion and then be sent [to the] national general conference,” said the minister.
”Instead of focusing on delivery issues as stipulated by the president’s State of the Nation speech on Friday, it is worrying that some of the media people choose to use this time to report falsely on issues which are aimed at derailing the progress of delivery to our people,” Stofile added.
It was not immediately clear what reports in which media Stofile was referring to. — Sapa