The appointment of KwaZulu-Natal education official Cassius Lubisi as director general in the Presidency has come as a surprise in political circles because of his low political profile.
Currently head of KwaZulu-Natal’s education department, Lubisi will start his new job as the top government bureaucrat on November 1, taking over from former spy boss Vusi Mavimbela.
Government officials in KwaZulu-Natal said Lubisi had been tipped for a deputy director general position in the Department of Higher Education and Training. He is close to its Minister, Blade Nzimande.
Those who know him say that he is well connected but has not played a significant role in the politics of the province. He did, however, serve in the provincial government while President Jacob Zuma was KwaZulu-Natal’s economic affairs minister.
Lubisi (54) started his career as a lecturer at the University of Natal in 1993 and completed several degrees in education, including a PhD at the University of Nottingham in 2000.
He was a special adviser to former education minister Kader Asmal in 2003 and later served as a deputy director general in the National Education Department.
‘He is highly respected in education circles,” said a former colleague, John Pampallis, special adviser to Nzimande and previously head of the Centre for Education Policy Development, originally the ANC’s education think-tank.
Lubisi is ‘a natural leader, people defer to him”, Pampallis said. ‘He knows the public service and is well connected inside and outside government.
Though he specialised in education, he could talk about government broadly as well. The presidency is lucky to have him.”
Several presidency staff members hail from the KwaZulu-Natal provincial bureaucracy and have known Lubisi in his previous capacities, which should help him settle into the Union Buildings.
As the director general in the Presidency Lubisi will take charge of the forum of directors general, which provides leadership to the whole government bureaucracy.
Lubisi will also serve as Cabinet secretary and work on making it more effective ‘in line with the new vision and way of doing things in government”, said presidential adviser Zizi Kodwa.
How Lubisi gets on with the head of Zuma’s private office, Lakela Kaunda, will be crucial to the success of his term as director general. Presidency staff members told the Mail & Guardian that the relationship between Kaunda and Lubisi’s predecessor, Mavimbela, created tension in the Union Buildings.
Those sympathetic to Mavimbela said he tried to use his wealth of experience and access to privileged information as a result of his leadership of the National Intelligence Agency to make the presidency run like clockwork.
But insiders said Kaunda would overrule him by briefing ministers and directors general about the President’s demands without consulting him and by excluding him from processes he should have led.
Those sympathetic to Kaunda said government leaders would choose to contact her directly because it was assumed she had better access to the President.
Eventually, senior government officials started to wonder out loud whether Mavimbela had any real say in the presidency.
Kaunda has repeatedly and strenuously denied that she played a role in any resignations in the presidency.