The winner of the ‘Leak of the Week’ award is…

IN A country awash with media awards, I’m proud to announce my own: the “Leak of the Week”. Yes, I know it seems media people can get certificates for just about anything these days. There’s even a Responsible Drinking Media Award, occasionally misconstrued as rewarding drunk journalists who refuse to bribe metro cops. But mine is unique. It’s awarded to those who successfully sell political spin — thus providing the Leak of the Week.

Until Monday, the frontrunner was clearly Bheki Cele — or at least the smart people who whisper on his behalf — for making the general look like a victim rather than someone incapable of running the police force.

Newspapers quoted “impeccable sources close to Cele” as saying he had been fired, but without being properly informed. The leaks intensified on Sunday, with details of a clumsy meeting between Cele and President Jacob Zuma, which created the impression of a president dithering on another urgent matter of state security. The pressure worked, and on Tuesday, Zuma was left with no choice but to acknowledge what we’d known for a week: that Cele had been shown the door.

But the Leak of the Week award was scooped from under Cele’s nose on Monday by the Presidency, which, according to 17 political reporters I spoke to (okay, maybe it was three), sold journalists the prediction that Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale would be chopped in this week’s Cabinet reshuffle. I worked in Sexwale’s ministry for two years, during which the president reshuffled the Cabinet twice. In both cases I heard via political reporters that “sources in the Presidency” were saying Sexwale was going to be axed or demoted.

Privately, I used to relish the prospect. A wintry night in a Diepsloot shack may seem like fun to some, but it isn’t— nor is a housing backlog of 1,5-million, or RDP houses that fall down if you breathe too hard. So my colleagues and I — but never the minister, I hasten to add — fantasised about a reshuffle that would see Sexwale moved to the Sports Ministry (so we could spend our lives at the stadium) or to arts and culture (so we could dedicate our weekends to music festivals). But it was not to be. The rumours would surface. The Cabinet would be reshuffled. Sexwale would survive and we would go back to opening housing projects in villages that didn’t appear on my car’s GPS.

So when the Sexwale rumour resurfaced again among political journalists two weeks ago, the response was understandably jaded. But someone eventually took the bait: a political reporter on The Citizen, who boldly told his readers on Monday: “Sexwale is expected to be booted out when Zuma reshuffles Cabinet soon.” As proof, the reporter quoted “a highly placed source”, who had told him: “Sexwale will be sacked in the reshuffle.” It’s not so much that he got it wrong, but that he did so little to get it right. No confirmation from a second or third source, no semblance of any additional veracity — yet the story ran for miles and even some previously fatigued political reporters started to wonder.

The reporter did not even say where his single source was situated, but my multiple sources say it was the same rumour from two weeks ago (alternatively, two years ago), circulated by the same wishful thinkers. So take a bow, whichever of the 700 Presidency staffers spun The Citizen.

Sadly, this may be the first and last time the award goes to the Union Buildings. At this week’s media briefing, Zuma declared war on “breaches in information security” — initially in the South African Police Service, where he said leaks were becoming “common practice”. But given that the Presidency is as porous as the police, we can’t rule out a crackdown on Union Buildings staff.

Another early target for leak-proofing has to be the African National Congress national executive committee (NEC), otherwise it’s going to be a permanent contender for this award. On Monday night, an “NEC source” was texting journalists a ball-by-ball report on the showdown between Zuma and Julius Malema’s supporters, complete with names of protagonists. The SMSes, and the list of names, made it into print on Tuesday.

As we approach Mangaung — the uberstimulator of our political rumour mill — my only comment, as someone who occasionally dabbles in the art of leaking, would be to remind The Citizen’s reporter what presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told him when he called for comment: “Recycling rumours is not part of my brief.” Clearly, The Citizen’s political reporter failed to take Maharaj’s advice. But it wasn’t the first time: in his last attempt at political forecasting, he confidently predicted Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale was going to be fired.

That was in December last year. Six months down the line, Mathale is still premier of Limpopo. Just like Sexwale is still minister of human settlements.

Vick runs Black, a communications consultancy. He is a former special adviser to Sexwale.