David Mahlobo was sworn in as minister of state security this year.
Remember how officials were forced to take the rap for “Guptagate” – the outrageous use of the Waterkloof air force base to land wedding guests of the Gupta family, President Jacob Zuma’s friends and benefactors? Prepare for more scapegoating as the government goes into overdrive to save Number One from embarrassment arising from his chaotic State of the Nation address.
On Wednesday the department of state security issued a statement blaming last Thursday’s “jamming” of cellular devices in the National Assembly on an unnamed, low-ranking official. The official, we were told, now faces disciplinary action.
There were a number of fall guys in the Guptagate imbroglio, including South African National Defence Force officer Lieutenant Colonel Christine Anderson, who was hauled before a board of inquiry for allowing the Gupta plane to land. The charge was ultimately dropped and Anderson now plans to sue the state. Chief of state protocol in the department of international relations and co-operation Bruce Koloane did rather better out of his suspension and demotion. A few months after confessing in a disciplinary hearing that he “lied” when he said Zuma had ordered the landing of the Gupta aircraft, he was rewarded with a plum ambassadorship.
It seems to be part of our political culture that, if they screw up, the bosses pass the buck to their underlings. This is cowardly and dishonest.
State Security Minister David Mahlobo denied executive or political involvement in the jamming and said he was “taken aback” by the incident. The claim is as much an insult to our intelligence as Zuma’s giggling during the jackboot tactics in Parliament last week that ejected EFF MPs from the house.
South Africa cannot afford another three years of Zuma rule. His apparently deeply rooted belief that the state exists to serve him, rather than the other way round, now threatens Parliament. It is the institution that most strongly symbolises government of, for and by the people – rather than that of the bullies and shadowy manipulators of the security establishment.
Increasingly, we are looking to senior members of the ANC to put the country before their political careers and bank balances. It is not as if South Africa is bereft of leadership. There are enough good men and women in the ANC to lead and help resuscitate our fortunes.