It seems in our beautiful country that when one speaks the truth, is passionate about one’s work and is a no-nonsense person, one gets the sack. This is what happened to me, and this is likely to be the fate of prosecutions chief Vusi Pikoli.
President Thabo Mbeki has told the nation in the past that if anybody has evidence of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s involvement with organised crime figures they should bring it to him. Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said the same.
Yet when Pikoli told the president he had an arrest warrant for Selebi, Mbeki proceeded to ask the justice minister to persuade him of the serious embarrassment the arrest would cause. This is not just because Selebi is the head of Interpol. He apparently originates from North West, one of only two provinces that currently support Mbeki. Arrest him, and the president can kiss North West goodbye.
People are afraid to speak out. A minister has been quoted, anonymously, as saying: ”I am so disappointed in Thabo.” If this person’s identity was known to the president, he or she would be fired forthwith. The president has always loved sycophants; even in Lusaka, he used to surround himself with yes-men and yes-women. The ”chief” loves to be served by people who are mortally scared of him.
Let’s face it — he is the best president the country has had, and a third Mbeki term as leader of the ANC and the country would not be a bad idea. But he has to agree to devolve power, tighten the screws on corruption and appoint men and women who will do a sterling job. He must learn to accept constructive criticism, for the greater good of the country.
Otherwise, South Africa will become stuck in a cycle of mediocrity. In my humble opinion, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, ”Dr Beetroot”, is not just mediocre — she is 100% sub-standard. I do not know what planet presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga was on when he requested ”evidence of her failure to do her duty”.
In an open letter to the president in the Sunday Times, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) leader Zackie Achmat stated that the TAC ”has explained in great detail the areas in which the health minister has failed in her constitutional duties to the people of South Africa”, and that ”both questions — her theft conviction and alcoholism — affect her judgement and her work”.
I have been reliably told that in 2003 the minister could not attend a meeting with a Norwegian delegation, scheduled for 2pm, because she was intoxicated. She apparently starts drinking when she enters her office in the morning.
An informant of mine who works at the East London airport told me that she has held up the plane on occasion because she is drinking in the bar.
We are told that in departmental meetings she often rambles on unintelligibly about things that have nothing to do with the agenda.
The minister is always accompanied by a large contingent and never greets or smiles at workers. The president and his wife always manage to be polite.
Alcohol is a lethal substance — I know, because for 21 years of my life I was in a close relationship with an alcoholic. My husband died of alcoholic hepatitis in July 1997.
That does not mean I approve of the Democratic Alliance’s cruel statement last year that Manto should be fired so that she does not die in office.
Politically, I am a child of the Black Consciousness Movement and, currently, a card-carrying member of the ANC. We are often told that the ANC is a ”large umbrella” that covers all sorts of people. Me too. I vote in all elections.
As the medical superintendent of Cecilia Makiwane Hospital and the deputy hospital manager of the East London Hospital Complex, I wrote to President Mbeki two days after the minister was there to tell him of the serious deficiencies at the complex which the minister missed.
Had I been granted a meeting with the president, I would have brought minutes of meetings and pictures, and given him reasons for the dire situation. That letter, which was leaked to the Daily Dispatch, was received by the director general in the presidency, Frank Chikane, who did not show it to the president.
I was suspended and then sacked, not for lying or being lazy at work, but for ”speaking truth to power”.
One of many problems I see with having Manto at the helm of health is that her director general and other senior officials are not doctors. If you are surrounded by non-Âmedical people, you are very unlikely to receive good quality advice.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is full of lawyers and advocates. Why is the health ministry not filled with doctors, professional nurses, pharmacists, clinical psychologists and even nursing assistants?
Advocate Pikoli is facing at least two investigations: one by Frene Ginwala into his fitness for office and another by acting NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe into the cases he was handling. We hear that morale is low at the NPA. If Pikoli is fired, there is likely be a staff exodus.
This leaves a question in the minds of thinking people: when will the president call for an inquiry into the health minister’s fitness to hold office? Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
The president is a hard worker; actually, I believe he is overworked. So he needs to appoint good, honest, hardworking people to be his ears and eyes. Instead of running their departments, they ought to be his brains.
Cabinet ministers serve at the president’s pleasure; he hires and fires. Why not get rid of the incompetent ones? The time has come for a major Cabinet reshuffle, to get rid of the dead wood. Put in other South Africans, black or white.
I liked hearing that Mbeki would be happy to step down if service delivery is not good. Invigorate your administration, Mr President, and you will go a long way to achieving your delivery goals.