‘Disgusting!” That was how General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (Giwusa) president Zwelinzima Vavi described President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to return Dina Pule to Cabinet.
Vavi said Pule’s return was a slap in the face of South Africans who believed in the ANC’s commitment to ethical renewal.
Pule, who was sworn in as minister of social development on Wednesday, is a former communications minister who was dismissed from Cabinet by former president Jacob Zuma in 2013, after investigations by parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members’ interests and the Office of the Public Protector found that she had acted improperly during the 2012 ICT Indaba.
Parliament determined that Pule had failed to disclose her relationship with businessman Phosane Mngqibisa, whose company benefited from the event.
She was publicly reprimanded, fined and suspended from parliamentary activities.
At a media briefing on Thursday, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said: “The ANC welcomes the appointment of Comrade Dina Pule as minister of social development.
“We extend our warm congratulations and wish her strength, wisdom and success as she assumes this important responsibility in the service of the people of South Africa.
“We are confident that she will discharge her duties with dedication and commitment to improving the lives of the most vulnerable in our society.”
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian, also on Thursday, Vavi said Pule’s return to the executive demonstrated that the ANC had abandoned any meaningful attempt at self-correction after years of corruption scandals.
“The ANC has never done any renewal. This whole thing was just a facade,” Vavi said.
“Anybody who was serious about introspection would have started with Ramaphosa and asked whether, after the Phala Phala matter, he still qualified to be president.
“The same applies to Gwede Mantashe, Nomvula Mokonyane and Fikile Mbalula. There is no introspection and there is no renewal. It’s one way down to the dustbin of history.
“He has got to bring back such a discredited individual. In fact, it was shameful that she was still on the list of MPs to start with.”
Vavi said the appointment was one of “many examples” indicating that Ramaphosa was politically “compromised”.
“The … money he spent to win the conference is what has compromised him and will always be a big factor in his judgement.
“I guess he has an obligation now to pay back all the people who would have assembled those hundreds of millions of rand. We don’t know who they are. You just see these very funny actions and you say: ‘Maybe it’s payback time?’”
Vavi also linked the appointment to the Phala Phala scandal, saying Ramaphosa “needs friends”, such as ANC leaders whom he claimed had been implicated in corruption-related findings, to protect him from his possible impeachment.
“He needs friends like Gwede Mantashe, who was condemned by the Zondo Commission; like Fikile Mbalula, who was condemned by the Public Protector report; like Nomvula Mokonyane, who was condemned by the Zondo Commission; and like Paul Mashatile, who cannot explain the sources of his wealth,” he said.
Vavi dismissed the ANC’s repeated claims that it was rebuilding and reforming itself after its elec-toral decline.
“The ANC has never ever done any renewal. This whole thing was just a fuss. How could you say you have done some self-introspection and now understand why the majority of South Africans no longer want to participate in the electoral system but then recycle people who have corruption allegations hanging over their heads?”
He said the decision would further erode the ANC’s electoral support.
“It means that the 40% is continuously going to go down, thanks to Ramaphosa and the current leaders of the ANC.”
Pule’s appointment comes days after veteran anti-apartheid activist and former Mandela cabinet minister Jay Naidoo appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa to either show decisive leadership or step aside.
Naidoo said the time for “incremental adjustments” had passed and called on the president to address the nation directly, restore public confidence through concrete anti-corruption action, including full implementation of the Zondo Commission recommendations, and tackle the root causes of anger — failing service delivery, unemployment and inequality, among other issues.
Naidoo warned that if Rama-
phosa’s government no longer had the capacity, will or moral authority to fulfil the post-1994 covenant with South Africans, he should do the honourable thing and return his mandate to the people through democratic elections.
“Lead. The country is waiting,” he wrote.
However, many sources from the Women’s League told the M&G that Ramaphosa’s hands were tied because the position had to be given to a member of the league and Pule had been the only available person.
“The social development portfolio has, over successive administrations, effectively become the preserve of the ANC Women’s League, significantly narrowing the field of potential candidates whenever the position becomes vacant.
“The death of senior Women’s League leader Lungi Mnganga-Gcabashe fundamentally altered the succession calculations. If anything, they would have given it to Lungi, after Sisisi Tolashe stepped down,” the source said.
“She never had scandals. She was clean. It would have been a welcome appointment. But she passed away and her death left the ANC searching for another senior Women’s League leader capable of taking over one of government’s most demanding departments.”
The source added that the search had exposed another problem — the league’s most senior office bearers were tied to full-time executive responsibilities inside government and the ANC.
“The secretary-general is full-time. The treasurer-general is full-time. Others are premiers or already have demanding executive responsibilities. They couldn’t take on anyone. They had to work with the leadership that was available and that dramatically reduced President Matamela’s options,” they said.
Pule, therefore, emerged as the most viable candidate, combining Cabinet experience with continued political involvement inside the movement.
“People forget that she’s experienced. Put the old saga aside. She’s a capable leader.
“The department of social development doesn’t need a novice. It needs somebody who understands government.”
The sources said those considerations outweighed the political cost the Presidency knew it would incur by returning Pule to Cabinet.
“They knew there would be criticism but they also knew they needed someone who could immediately take over the department.”
The ANC Veterans’ League has also questioned the appointment, saying the party leadership owed members and South Africans an explanation at a time when the ANC was attempting to regain public confidence after its bruising electoral losses.
The veterans have warned that while no individual should be condemned forever, the timing of Pule’s return undermined efforts to rebuild the party’s credibility.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson on social development Nazley Sharif said the portfolio required “a minister of impeccable credentials, not one found to have previously betrayed her oath of office and brought Parliament into disrepute”.
“It appears President Ramaphosa has chosen ANC Women’s League interests over the interests of millions who rely on social grants
and need a reliable minister,”
Sharif said.
African Transformation Movement leader Vuyo Zungula said the appointment was further proof
that the ANC’s renewal programme had collapsed.
“It’s a clear indication that there is no renewal, there is no commitment to appointing people with-
out a tarnished history into posi-
tions of power,” Zungula said.
ActionSA MP Athol Trollip said Ramaphosa had again chosen to recycle leaders associated with ethical controversies rather than demonstrating a decisive break from the ANC’s troubled past.
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation also weighed in, saying Pule’s appointment sent a troubling message about government’s commitment to ethical leadership.
The foundation said entrusting one of government’s largest social welfare departments to a politician found to have breached the Executive Ethics Code undermined confidence in public institutions.