If former higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane has any sensibility at all she will resign as an MP, the institution she has treated with such derision. Alternatively, the ANC, a party whose collective sensibility is also lacking, must act with haste and remove her from the national legislature.
Nkabane can’t sit in the same house in which she has displayed so much contempt and disdain for the country’s constitution — the supreme law of the land. Since her behaviour shows that she lacks an understanding of ministerial accountability to the legislature, as set out in the country’s constitution, she can’t be part of the structure that is supposed to hold her former cabinet colleagues to account. I say this mindful of the dishonest and disreputable people the ANC continually sends to, and keeps in, parliament.
On appointment in July last year Nkabane swore before then chief justice Raymond Zondo that she would “obey, respect and uphold the constitution and all other law of the republic”. The constitution further states that cabinet ministers “are accountable collectively and individually to parliament” for the exercise of their powers and the performance of their functions. They must also “act in accordance” with the constitution and provide parliament “with full and regular reports concerning matters under their control”.
Nkabane breached all the relevant constitutional clauses applicable to cabinet ministers, as well as her oath of office. So President Cyril Ramaphosa had no option but to sack Nkabane on Monday after she lied to parliament. Her contempt for the national legislature continued thereafter, including her decision not to show up before the relevant parliamentary committee.
Nkabane could save her party, and the legislature, further embarrassment. But based on her behaviour even on Monday, she lacks sensibility. She issued a media statement — her parting swagger — “thanking” Ramaphosa for the honour to serve — clearly an incorrect choice of word because her behaviour has been nothing but a disservice to the values of the constitution.
Sensibility — the quality of being able to appreciate and respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences — should be one of the most valued things in politics. That is due to the strange nature of the job of cabinet minister. There’s no “objective” evaluation of a person’s suitability as a minister in the cabinet and for the portfolio they are allocated. People are appointed to positions for political reasons, but at the very least a president should check each potential cabinet member’s sensibility.
Then there’s the issue of decorum — a rare commodity in SA’s body politic. Decorum is behaviour that is in keeping with good taste and propriety, the latter referring to conformity to conventionally accepted standards of behaviour or morals. Nkabane is lacking here too.
When the president is about to make an announcement that affects you (especially when you are being fired for lacking emotional intelligence), you allow the president’s announcement to simmer. Then, if you still have “scabies” (utwayi in Zulu) that is itchy and you want to scratch it in public, you can say something to the media a few days later. But, for goodness’ sake, allow the president space to have his word.
It has become a tradition for ANC ministers to complain about the budget allocations for their departments. This even though they, in terms of the constitution, “bear individual and collective responsibility” for cabinet decisions, including the approval of the budget.
Nkabane’s behaviour is yet another reminder that we need to bring sensibility and decorum back into the body politic.
• Sikhakhane, a former spokesperson for the finance minister, National Treasury and SA Reserve Bank, is editor of The Conversation Africa. He writes in his personal capacity.
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