Oliphant speaks with forked tongue

Social Development spokesperson Lumka Oliphant, pictured, has single-handedly excelled once more in not only humiliating herself, but also her controversial boss, Bathabile Dlamini, by forcefully attempting to address seasoned Radio 702 journalist Xolani Gwala in isiZulu and isiXhosa instead of English in a radio interview on Monday morning.

One can argue that Oliphant was well within her rights to respond in any language of her choice as Gwala would have understood her in any case and translated for the benefit of 702 listeners. However, this argument doesn’t hold water when one considers that before the 702 interview, Oliphant was being interviewed on Morning Live in English and responded likewise, in English.

The spokesperson’s objective was merely to distract people from the Sassa debacle and divert their attention, instead, to the debate on whether she should have been allowed to respond in isiZulu and isiXhosa.

Unfortunately for Oliphant, Xolani is an old hand when it comes to radio and saw right through her deceptive tactic.

President Abraham Lincoln said: “You can fool all the people some of the time … but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

Unfortunately for the spokesperson, some of us fall into the latter category. Just saying. Sandile Ntuli Johannesburg

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