Cabinet axe needed a much sharper edge

ORDINARILY, the president would be applauded for axing dead wood from his cabinet. The news that Dina Pule was no longer communications minister was long overdue. Her stay in that portfolio was marred by allegations of corruption and nepotism — exposed by the Sunday Times in a series of investigative articles — and set South Africa back by a number of years in terms of the provision of cheaper internet access and telephony, as well as the much-awaited digital migration of television.

Billionaire politician Tokyo Sexwale spent much of his four years in President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet working on his ill-fated presidential campaign, rather than building houses for the poor in his capacity as human settlements minister. His poor showing in the portfolio must have ruled him out as a presidential candidate for good.

Richard Baloyi was just as disappointing at cooperative governance and traditional affairs as in all the other positions he previously held in the government.

If their reputations are anything to go by, the three ministers who have now taken over the posts are a breath of fresh air. Yunus Carrim, who replaces Pule, has his heart in the right place and, judging by his comments this week, knows exactly what needs to be done to fix the communications department, the SABC and other parastatals now falling under him.

But Zuma’s latest cabinet reshuffle — the fourth in as many years — fell woefully short of what needs to be done to fix his government.

That the move had little to do with making the executive more effective is demonstrated by the fact that a long list of underperformers — some in areas more critical than others — were not affected by the chop.

Despite her failure to ensure that textbooks were delivered to public schools, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has been retained in her post in a move calculated to keep the ANC Women’s League — of which she is president — happy. Malusi Gigaba’s failures at public enterprises risk plunging us into another electricity blackout this winter, but, like Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, he has not been fired because he campaigned for Zuma’s successful bid for a second term as ANC president last year. The list is endless. But if cabinet reshuffles were done according to a lack of performance, the taking of controversial decisions and corruption, Zuma himself would not be safe. His tenure as president has been marked by one scandal after another. Never in the short history of postapartheid rule has a government seemed so unstable and devoid of political — and policy — direction.