I HAVE had two interesting encounters with ministers of government recently..
Late last year in rapid succession, I found myself sharing a platforms with the Minister of Land and Rural Development, Gugile Nkwinti, first at the Black Management Forum national meeting and then on a radio programme.
Nkwinti is a lovely man, a guy you feel could be the uncle you can talk to. Trouble is, he is responsible for one of the main ministries which have been floundering since 1994.
His ministry from the over-promising Derek Hanekom, through to "understanding" Thoko Didiza and "consulting" Lulu Xingwana, has failed the landless of this country.
On radio with Nkwinti, I put it to him that the ANC should fire him for undermining their Polokwane resolutions because his green paper did not take forward the main issue to end the willing buyer, willing seller policy.
It's this policy that has led to the disaster of the land reform programme which does not deliver land nor help black farmers.
At the current pace, it will take at least 100 years to redistribute only 30% of the land. I also put it to him that farmworkers are slaves who are abused every single day. I said what a nice new year present it would be if government were to declare a moratorium on evictions.
The affable Nkwinti made it clear to me that I was out of order to call for his sacking because the ANC cabinet lekgotla had approved his green paper. In other words, he was telling me that the ANC that took a resolution in Polokwane to end the willing buyer, willing seller policy is the same ANC that has approved his policy proposal, which does the opposite of the resolutions. I felt I was unfair to the minister, it's not him as an individual, but his party that is refusing to implement its own resolutions.
This made me think hard. Ministers are not there to serve the people; they are there to serve their party. So the radical rhetoric of Polokwane was about kicking Thabo Mbeki out of office and not about changing policy. I thought about Mangaung and the noise of "Economic Freedom".
The last encounter was with Minister Collins Chabane, who is responsible for monitoring and evaluation.
His portfolio gives a sense of some kind of super ministry hawking over all government departments to make sure there is delivery.
At this TV programme, we were to discuss the financial, human and delivery crisis in Limpopo. The minister comes across as a lekker ou.
You can't be impolite with him or antagonise him. I didn't get a sense of ego in our brief encounter. I was just thoroughly surprised when he asked, what is the crisis?
He said I saw crises everywhere. So this nice guy doesn't get it that there is a massive crisis in Limpopo and, in fact, nationally?
Our politics that puts the party first makes good people bad. But I also think it pays to be bad, so between choosing the life of poverty in good conscience and the luxury of bad politics in conform, most people would choose to be bad.
Ministers answer to their parties, not to the people of SA
I HAVE had two interesting encounters with ministers of government recently..
Late last year in rapid succession, I found myself sharing a platforms with the Minister of Land and Rural Development, Gugile Nkwinti, first at the Black Management Forum national meeting and then on a radio programme.
Nkwinti is a lovely man, a guy you feel could be the uncle you can talk to. Trouble is, he is responsible for one of the main ministries which have been floundering since 1994.
His ministry from the over-promising Derek Hanekom, through to "understanding" Thoko Didiza and "consulting" Lulu Xingwana, has failed the landless of this country.
On radio with Nkwinti, I put it to him that the ANC should fire him for undermining their Polokwane resolutions because his green paper did not take forward the main issue to end the willing buyer, willing seller policy.
It's this policy that has led to the disaster of the land reform programme which does not deliver land nor help black farmers.
At the current pace, it will take at least 100 years to redistribute only 30% of the land. I also put it to him that farmworkers are slaves who are abused every single day. I said what a nice new year present it would be if government were to declare a moratorium on evictions.
The affable Nkwinti made it clear to me that I was out of order to call for his sacking because the ANC cabinet lekgotla had approved his green paper. In other words, he was telling me that the ANC that took a resolution in Polokwane to end the willing buyer, willing seller policy is the same ANC that has approved his policy proposal, which does the opposite of the resolutions. I felt I was unfair to the minister, it's not him as an individual, but his party that is refusing to implement its own resolutions.
This made me think hard. Ministers are not there to serve the people; they are there to serve their party. So the radical rhetoric of Polokwane was about kicking Thabo Mbeki out of office and not about changing policy. I thought about Mangaung and the noise of "Economic Freedom".
The last encounter was with Minister Collins Chabane, who is responsible for monitoring and evaluation.
His portfolio gives a sense of some kind of super ministry hawking over all government departments to make sure there is delivery.
At this TV programme, we were to discuss the financial, human and delivery crisis in Limpopo. The minister comes across as a lekker ou.
You can't be impolite with him or antagonise him. I didn't get a sense of ego in our brief encounter. I was just thoroughly surprised when he asked, what is the crisis?
He said I saw crises everywhere. So this nice guy doesn't get it that there is a massive crisis in Limpopo and, in fact, nationally?
Our politics that puts the party first makes good people bad. But I also think it pays to be bad, so between choosing the life of poverty in good conscience and the luxury of bad politics in conform, most people would choose to be bad.
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