When, oh when, will our officials learn that their flatfooted attempts at covering up the truth only expose them as being inept?

When, oh when, will our officials learn that their flatfooted attempts at covering up the truth only expose them as being inept?

Seems like the first thing our public officials do when caught in an act of dishonesty or ineptitude is reach for an excuse, no matter how brazenly false it might be.

Poor Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri is the latest to fall into this trap.

This weekend she said the suspension of SABC chief executive Dali Mpofu had nothing to do with his suspension of news chief Snuki Zikalala 24 hours earlier.

The board ditched him because of "the budget, sports rights, staff problems at executive level and the impact all these have on the business of the SABC", she said.

Say what?

For matters that had been bubbling for months, maybe years, the board held an emergency meeting the day after Zikalala was shown the door and then canned the top dog at 1am?

You insult our intelligence, Ms Minister, and blow whatever modicum of credibility you might have had.

For the haste with which the board acted against Mpofu, after he suspended Zikalala, clearly suggests there is a connection here.

Like in the past, however, government always vacillates.

When will our officials learn they are our public servants, take us into their trust and treat us as adults?