When estate agents want to sell you a dodgy house they smile and say: “Remember, location, location, location!” For politicians one might adopt this phrase to: “Positions, positions, positions!” Could that be why Deputy President Baleka Mbete seemed to have thrown her toys out of the cot yesterday by refusing to be sworn in as a member of the National Assembly after it became known that Kgalema Motlanthe would serve as Deputy President in the Zuma cabinet?
ANC officials – who were clearly taken by surprise – first told journalists that Mbete was not sworn in because if she had been sworn in she would not have been able to act as President in the event of Kgalema Motlanthe not being able to fulfil his duties. This is clearly wrong as section 90 of the Constitution makes clear that when the President is absent or otherwise unable to fulfil his duties as President the Deputy President will act as President.
Later ANC official said that it did not want to create a vacuum in the office of the Deputy President because once sworn in as a member of the fourth Parliament, Mbete would stop being the Deputy President. This is also, how shall I put it, rubbish. Section 94 of the Constitution states that:
When an election of the National Assembly is held, the Cabinet, the Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers remain competent to function until the person elected President by the next Assembly assumes office.
It could still be argued – not very plausibly – that Kgalema Motlanthe could not be sworn in before Saturday because one cannot be President of the country and a member of the National Assembly at the same time. But the Deputy President must be a member of the National Assembly and in terms of section 94 Mbete would have remained competent to be Deputy President until Saturday.
This means Mbete decided not to be sworn in for other reasons. Could it be that she is not happy that she will be “demoted” from her position as Deputy President? Are we already seeing the first rumblings about positions in the ANC, a full three and a half years before the ANC holds its next conference?
Deputy President Mbete seems to have behaved like a prima donna. Not very disciplined, I would say.
There is no constitutional requirement for Mbete to have been sworn in yesterday. As long as the ANC does not swear in another MP in her place, she will remain eligible to be sworn in as an MP at a future date. If she is not sworn in she cannot become Deputy President and unless the President-elect wishes to use section 91(3)(c) of the Constitution to apoint her to the Cabinet,s he would also have to be sworn in as an MP to serve in the Cabinet.
My guess would be that she is trying to force Mr Zuma to re-appoint her as Deputy President and is making things uncomfortable for the incoming administration as an act of brinkmanship. This does not seem particularly wise as her actions are embarrassing the ANC and the President-elect.
It would be interesting to see what happens when Mr Zuma announces his cabinet. Invariably some ambitious politicians will be disappointed. Will they also do a Ms Mbete or will they fall in line? Never a dull moment in our politics.
I agree with you Prof, it was disappointing of her not to pitch up if she has ulterior motives, but I heard she received legal advise in this regard.If she wants to force President Zuma to appoint her,then she is setting herself up for a disappointment if the “no jobs for pals” statement by Zuma is anything to go by.
Was what was done by Roudlidge-Modise not more embarrassing for the ANC?
Sne, at least Madlala-Routlidge announced her decision beforehand and did not spring a surprise on the ANC and forced them to conjure up fake constitutional arguments to justify it.
Mdu, the ANC announced beforehand that Motlanthe would not be sworn in because its legal advice stated that he could not be President and member of the NA at the same time, so if this was the case with Mbete (which could not have been, because no constitutional lawyer would have given such advice) it would surely have been announced at the same time.
Sne, how can you possibly say that someone stepping down from a party list was more embarrassing than the Deputy President sitting in Parliament and then ignoring her name when it was called for her to go up to be sworn in? Of course what Nozi did was not worse!
I have to say, as a feminist, it pains me to admit that I have been nothing but disappointed in Mbete all along. She was the most partisan of Speakers, the fighting FOR the Travelgate fraudsters, and not for the greater good of Parliament and the nation, her quite dismal performance as Deputy President where her gaffes were blamed on all sorts of things including no staff in the Deputy President’s Office – why don’t they appoint some?
Now this bullshit. If she seriously thinks that she stands a chance of being appointed over Motlanthe as Deputy President she is mad as well as power drunk, greedy, petty and out of touch with her own limitations.
I am very concerned with the reports that if she resigns before the appointment of the new Deputy President then she gets all those fancy perks associated with being a former Deputy President. I object vehemently to this woman receiving an inflating package by the timing her resignation. If she refuses to serve the country then she must just go away and get herself another job If she wants more money she must ask for it from the ANC, not the public purse.
Mpho – I cannot but agree with your sentiments above. However, your views regarding Nozi would surely spur Khosi on to write something about your ‘support’ for her.
Nozi’s name should not be linked in this matter at all. If she did stand down because she didn’t get the post she wanted, then all that means is that she decided she could not suppress her desires for the collective. To resign was not only the correct thing to do, but the honourable thing to do in a party that does not allow members to pick and choose their posts.
However, Mbete is a different issue altogether.
Mpho – I so agree with you about B. Mbete. Just to add to your list of grievances, there’s her fraudulent driver’s licence … her irritatingly regal demeanour … not to mention the bizarre headgear …
Sne and Pierre – are “Roudlidge-Modise” and “Madlala-Routlidge” one and the same person? Has she finally given Jeremy the ol’ heave-ho?
It is easy for the entire village to slaughter an elephant. What is hard is to share the meat! The day was always coming when the popular leader had to show love back to his loved ones. Some will be happy, others will become deaf when their names are called.
Maybe they have started to recall themselves!
We watch with interest.
I agree on Mbete.
Clara and Prof., thanks for the correction on her name. It is difficult for me to write her name I must admit.
What Mbete and Madlala-Routlidge did to the ANC is embarrassing indeed. However, it reveals quite a lot about the ANC in general. I am deeply disappointed in the ANC for making the list of MPs a secret to be revealed only on the day concerned. This means two things:
1. It means that the democracy within the ruling party has no improved or is now worse. It means that being an ANC MP is not something that is discussed with the recipients concerned but something that the party just springs on the people. This, I submit, should not be so. The MPs and their portfolios should be discussed as the list is gradually prepared. It is shocking to see that the MPs themselves were shocked to hear their portfolios when the former convict (Winnie Madikizela) was reading out their names. How can ANC be trusted with our democracy and our rights when it cannot even let its members exercise their rights and when it does not allow for effective communication?
2. This has another important meaning. It means that MPs are not given their portfolios according to their qualifications. This means that Malema can be appointed Minister of Minerals and Energy instead of being appointed to be an Ambassador of South Africa to Lesotho or Swaziland. Imagine how the performance of a Minister will be if he was given a post which he does not like but has to accept merely because he knows the party may be tempted to “re-deploy” him to be an Ambassador to Tzaki-tzakistan (just like Mbeki?)! We are always encouraged to do what we love and love what we do, had this been applicable to the Ministers in our Parliament, how much more effeciency would we witness as a country?
A quick example will be the “racist little girl” called Helen Zille, according to Malema, of course. She chose to be a mayor and guess what happened thereafter; she won the award for the Best Mayor in the World! She was doing something that she loves and she was loving what she was doing. I wish the ANC could consider this and start practising democracy within its own ranks. Maybe they would be perfect by the time they get to the country!
Sne – Your points make sense, except for imlying (in jest I hope) that Julius Malema could ever be appointed as an Ambassador somewhere – except maybe on Robben Island; Siberia or the moon (what a ‘man on da moon he’d make! LOL). Obviously, the ANC does not have a clue about democracy – as you have indicated, it is more of “baantjies vir boeties”, and the best “gatkruipers” would get the best positions in Parliament and Cabinet. Well, with Winnie there, the Travelgate fraudsters that survived the Scorpions’ poison without a prison term, Baleka Mbete who supported them hand and tooth thus far (fortunately she had refused to take the oath, well, thus far!), and with a President-elect who sure as hell is not an honest (incorruptible) man that can be trusted, and with a few others like them (perhaps 50%?) in the ranks – ANC could just as well stand for African National CONS (or crooks). … But I’m sure many will be watching, because they have now seen that those who voted for other parties (or who stayed away from the polls) were not terminated (or tortured) as in Zim after the first round elections but before the run-off. … And, if the African National Crooks do not deliver – the party would be in for a surprize come the next Municipal elections and the next national elections. (P.S. – I hear the Julius Malema puppet that was used by Nando’s is now a silent BEE partner in a rich guy’s bar somewhere in Sandton.)
It is rather interesting, to say the least, to watch these sorts of shenanigans going on. The ANC is still a deeply divided party, and will remain so, election victory or not.
Sne, the idea that ministers actually need to know something about their portfolio seems to have gone out of the window many moons ago, judging by some of the people the ANC appointed to various positions. I’m not going to list them all, because it would take too long, but unfortunately, it seems that aside from Trevor Manuel, there are very few people who actually understand the subject matter which they are responsible for.
This thing with Mbete (who has never really made a shining name for herself, lets be honest) is symptomatic of the real story here – the mentality that pervades the majority of the profile-holding ANC elite when it comes to positions of power. It is a mentality that smacks of self-service and self-interest, the idea that positions exist for the person occupying them, instead of to serve the people who allow that person to occupy them. If Mbete was a true “servant of the people”, as the ANC claims it’s MPs are, would it really make a difference as to whether she served in the capacity of VP, or ordinary MP? She seems more interested in what she stands to gain than anything else…which, frankly, isn’t entirely surprising considering the political party she belongs to – sadly.
TBS – “It is a mentality that smacks of self-service and self-interest, the idea that positions exist for the person occupying them, instead of to serve the people who allow that person to occupy them.”
It is a mentality of jumping on the gravy train, and of, “F**k the people! We’re the people!”
TBS,
I am disgusted to read your comments; not because I disagree with their content but because they contain the truth in the South African context.
I think people should not expect anything new from the Zuma presidency. His looks more like more of the same or even worse than that. I just hope that the likes of Mbete are merely the last kicks of a dying horse.
It is high time that we start BEE from the grassroots level not from the top downwards. We must be focussing on things like basic education for the poor and starting development projects in the poor areas and making sure that those projects benefit the poor and manage those projects and make sure that the money forked out for those projects is utilised for same.
The economic potential of our country is harvested for the select few. This must come to an end. The concept of two economies in our country should be abolished. Admittedly, these cannot be done all at once as even Rome was not built in a day. However, the problem is that we have not put a single step in the right direction. It would be better for the poor people of this country to be told to be patient whilst they see that something is being done whilst they wait. How can you be patient when you see that nothing is being done about your problems?
That is the problem with the ANC government. They always tell us that we must be patient as they cannot undo the damage done to us for centuries in only a few years of being in power. Why must we continue to wait when nothing is being done currently? What are we gonna say we’re waiting for? Waiting for the elite to fill the pockets and those of thier families and friends and then maybe we will be next in line? How long will that be?
I can’t post anything again. It keeps sending me back to the Home page.
Ok, I’ll try again
I’m disappointed this discussion has descended into another ANC bashing session. Surely it is a good thing that President Elect Zuma appears to not be caving into personal patronage. We could list a litany of issues we have with Mbete post appointment to Deputy President. Is it inconceivable to you all that these just might have stood in the way of the party giving her such an important role again?
@ Samaita – You always make me smile with your wit! I hope things are improving your side. Mugabe’s interference with the Judiciary supported by us all for once today, I think. And a little applause for Home Affairs and the 90 day VISAs for Zimbabweans. How can we have a SADC community that required Zimbabweans to shell out R3000 even if all they wanted was a holiday VISA?
Thanks Mpho. This side things are still dull. Mugabe remains in charge. MDC is realising to its detriment that the revamp of the judiciary should have been part of the Agreement. The judges and magistrates remain ardent supporters of his party.
As regards the 90 visas, we are very skeptical as to the purpose. It is well and good to remove the need to have R 2000 as cash to get a visa to visit SA. It is another to allow persons to leave their homes and work on short contracts and then expect them to go back home. With the unemployment figures so high in SA, I wonder is there will be any relief except for farmers who will get cheap labour. A fair power sharing deal would have made this move unnecessary actually.
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=128033&sn=Detail
Mpho, while your comment re Zuma not caving in to personal patronage holds true in some sense, look at the numbers of SACP members who sit in parliment, despite that party having never contested an election. I think it is early days to say Zuma isn’t going down that road – while I sincerely hope he does not (and will applaud loudly if he does not), I don’t hold much hope, given how many people he has climbed into bed with to get where he is.
The issue is not about Zuma – he didn’t really get a chance to dispense patronage here or not. To me, the issue is that it is symptomatic of a larget mentality among higher profile ANC cadres – that positions are there for their benefit, as opposed for them to actually serve the millions of citizens of South Africa.