Mbalula’s ministerial coat of many colours

THEY don’t call him the Minister of Twitter for nothing! Fikile Mbalula has earned himself the title as minister of the Twittersphere because his level of throwing shade and clapbacks is unmatched.

The 46-year-old spoke to Trending SA’s panel of presenters about some of the portfolios he’s held and what he thinks it takes to head them correctly.

First of all‚ Mbalula said, if you were a minister of sport and recreation, you could not have an “old-age crisis” catching up with you.

“When I was in sports‚ it was sports and recreation, and so it was not an old-age home. You can’t come into sport and sleep‚ it won’t work. You must resonate with the mass of sport. Because sports is about feeding the nation’s happiness.”

Secondly‚ according to Mbalula‚ there are levels to this “popularity thing” in the different ministries.

“If you are the minister of water and sanitation‚ except if there is drought‚ then you won’t be popular.

“Unlike a minister of police.”

And finally‚ he added, some ministers depended on a crisis for popularity‚ like agriculture‚ forestry and fisheries and environmental affairs.

“Forestry, we only think about you when we are talking about fish quotas. We start to think‚ ‘oh‚ who’s the minister of that thing’? Then energy‚ ‘oh there’s nuclear‚ we don’t want nuclear’. Then you start asking ‘who is the minister of energy’?”

Mbalula said other portfolios, like police, had a lot more direct access to people, and they would, by default attract a lot more attention.

He used Bheki Cele as an example.

“I mean‚ who doesn’t know Bheki Cele,” he asked.