Not appointed by Zuma

In his column, “Sars IT chief a symptom of Zuma’s toxic racial brew” (October 26), Jonny Steinberg writes ”and if the useful idiot is a black woman, then so be it”.

I served the government under former president Thabo Mbeki and I was part of his delegation to Tunisia in 2003 at the World Summit on the Information Society, where he delivered a keynote address with the late Kofi Annan.

I was serving as a chief information officer in the department of communications under the leadership of the late Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri and the director-general was Lyndall Shope-Mafole, who was on my CV as a reference when I joined the SA Revenue Service (Sars).

The Government Information Technology Officers Council is one of the institutional mechanisms that was supporting the National Information Society and Development Plan (Isad) as approved by the Cabinet. I have been a member of the council for more than 15 years and chaired it for six years. I also participated extensively in the Isad intergovernmental forum, which comprised MECs responsible for economic development, education and health.

I served under the late Edna Molewa as my former premier. My directors-general were Nana Magomola and Prof Manana Bakane-Tuoane.

I was appointed by Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi to serve on the State Information Technology Agency board from 2008 to 2011.

I take very strong exception to the statement that I am a symptom of Zuma’s toxic racial brew, especially “and if the useful idiot is a black woman, then so be it”. It suggests that I joined and served the government under Jacob Zuma’s administration.

Mmamathe Makhekhe-Mokhuane

Sars chief officer: digital information services and technology