It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand President Cyril Ramaphosa’s lack of stern action against social development minister Sisisi Tolashe.
The minister, who is also the president of the ANC Women’s League, has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past few months.
First, it emerged that Tolashe appointed a director-general who was a year away from retirement to a five-year term of office. This was in defiance of a cabinet decision approving a one-year contract for the director-general.
Then she hired an underqualified chief of staff who turned out to be a relative of the minister’s equally controversial special adviser.
A week ago, it turned out that the minister’s children were using Chinese vehicles allegedly donated to the league. As the controversy grew, the vehicles were spotted at Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters, which also houses the party’s women’s wing.
On Monday, Daily Maverick reported that Tolashe hired a “food aide” on the department’s budget. Contrary to government regulations, the aide was reportedly deployed to work at the minister’s private residence in the Eastern Cape, where she was asked to contribute a part of her salary towards the house’s running costs.
To be fair to Tolashe, she is not alone. Maropene Ramokgopa, the ANC’s second deputy secretary-general and minister in the presidency, is known to be another recipient of the Chinese largesse in the form of a vehicle.
The political proximity of the pair to the president opens him to troubling questions.
He needs the Women’s League to support both his ANC and government agendas. Ramokgopa is a known ally of the president.
That no serious action has been taken against the duo creates the impression that the two ministers are protected presidential game. Not only are they an embarrassment to him, they also make a mockery of his commitment to clean governance.
It would be scandalous for parliament’s ethics committee, the ethics watchdog, to not investigate the two ministers for possible ethics lapses.
He stands accused of waiting until situations get worse before he acts. His suspension of Senzo Mchunu, his police minister and another ally, falls into this category.
Some corrective action was eventually taken against Tolashe after the earlier scandals. The inexperienced chief of staff was made to resign. And the director-general is now retired after being thrown under the bus by Tolashe.
The vehicle and food aide scandals are a test for Ramaphosa and his party.
It would be scandalous for parliament’s ethics committee, the ethics watchdog, to not investigate the two ministers for possible ethics lapses.
A gift, big or small, needs to be disclosed in the register of members’ interests. This doesn’t seem to have happened.
Using a state employee in a private residence cannot be condoned by any measure.
The ANC also has a case to answer. If it is serious about renewing itself, it needs to have the two ministers appear before its integrity commission. If they are found guilty, they need to face the music.
Some ANC heavyweights — like Zizi Kodwa, Malusi Gigaba, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Pule Mabe — have had to step aside from party activities after being charged.
In the past, Ramaphosa fired a DA deputy minister for travelling abroad without the president’s permission. Some would say that was a minor transgression.
Unlike career civil servants, ministers serve at the pleasure of the president. Like other political appointees, they are not protected by labour law. If he is serious about clean governance, it is at the president’s discretion to send the appropriate message.
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