To many people outside of the ANC, the resignation of former police minister Nathi Nhleko from the party is neither here nor there, but for the sake of truth, he must never be allowed to sanitise his legacy.
In his letter made public yesterday, Nhleko quit the party, saying it had been turned into something he did not recognise.
The final straw for him, it seems, were comments by ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula who recently admitted that the party had spent years defending Jacob Zuma’s disastrous tenure as head of state.
Nhleko was one of the foremost defenders of Zuma’s abuse of taxpayers’ money.
His so-called investigation into the upgrades in Zuma’s Nkandla home sought to justify the expenditure and explain the project as necessary for the protection of the then president.
In an ill-informed video at the height of the Nkandla controversy, Nhleko sweat buckets, trying to convince the public that Zuma’s swimming pool was in fact a fire pool, which formed part of security upgrades.
Beyond the Nkandla saga, Nhleko must also be remembered as the man who appointed and defended the dishonourable Berning Ntlemeza as head of the Hawks, a move which subsequently ushered in a leadership crisis in the unit and compromised the fight against crime in general.
In recent weeks, Nhleko’s views on the ANC and the country have surfaced in a series of voice notes circulating in political circles.
In one recording he laments the ANC’s factionalism and the exclusion of some members by those currently in charge.
He then raises questions about the principle of the democracy itself and what he believes is excessive power given to judges to make decisions about the country.
The latter comments have earned him a new-found intellectual status among some.
Only he is disingenuous. Not only because he fails to take accountability for his role in the erosion of our law enforcement machinery, but his questions on the legitimacy of our democracy and the power of the judiciary have nothing to do with the wellbeing of the people.
It is about reducing public trust in institutions of accountability.
Nhleko thrived under a lawless Zuma administration. His resignation from the ANC is not because of a new-found moral compass.
It is simply to allow him to hedge his bets elsewhere while trying to rebrand a legacy that is nothing short of dishonourable.
SOWETAN | Nhleko hedging his bets
Image: Siyabulela Duda
To many people outside of the ANC, the resignation of former police minister Nathi Nhleko from the party is neither here nor there, but for the sake of truth, he must never be allowed to sanitise his legacy.
In his letter made public yesterday, Nhleko quit the party, saying it had been turned into something he did not recognise.
The final straw for him, it seems, were comments by ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula who recently admitted that the party had spent years defending Jacob Zuma’s disastrous tenure as head of state.
Nhleko was one of the foremost defenders of Zuma’s abuse of taxpayers’ money.
His so-called investigation into the upgrades in Zuma’s Nkandla home sought to justify the expenditure and explain the project as necessary for the protection of the then president.
In an ill-informed video at the height of the Nkandla controversy, Nhleko sweat buckets, trying to convince the public that Zuma’s swimming pool was in fact a fire pool, which formed part of security upgrades.
Beyond the Nkandla saga, Nhleko must also be remembered as the man who appointed and defended the dishonourable Berning Ntlemeza as head of the Hawks, a move which subsequently ushered in a leadership crisis in the unit and compromised the fight against crime in general.
In recent weeks, Nhleko’s views on the ANC and the country have surfaced in a series of voice notes circulating in political circles.
In one recording he laments the ANC’s factionalism and the exclusion of some members by those currently in charge.
He then raises questions about the principle of the democracy itself and what he believes is excessive power given to judges to make decisions about the country.
The latter comments have earned him a new-found intellectual status among some.
Only he is disingenuous. Not only because he fails to take accountability for his role in the erosion of our law enforcement machinery, but his questions on the legitimacy of our democracy and the power of the judiciary have nothing to do with the wellbeing of the people.
It is about reducing public trust in institutions of accountability.
Nhleko thrived under a lawless Zuma administration. His resignation from the ANC is not because of a new-found moral compass.
It is simply to allow him to hedge his bets elsewhere while trying to rebrand a legacy that is nothing short of dishonourable.
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