South Africans seem to be suffering from a serious disease, one that makes them unaware of their own surrounding. In the end, this makes them not to know what they want. For the past few years since the dawn of democracy, there has been a public outcry about service delivery.
Some blamed it on lack of political will, while some blamed it on cadre deployment, patronage and lack of skills. It is true that there is sometimes an abuse of power by those in position of authority in government where they employ family members and friends, which has affected service delivery.
However, there are some instances where we, as South Africans, need to defend our leaders when they do good things; we need to encourage them to do better because that will benefit the country as a whole. For instance, there has recently been a dangerous campaign against minister of minerals and energy Gwede Mantashe, Limpopo health MEC Phophi Ramathuba and Mpumalanga education MEC Bonakele Majuba.
These leaders are unfairly targeted for trying to save us from the mess that we find ourselves in. Mantashe’s sin is to be against the shift from coal to nuclear, which is leading to the closure of some mines and obviously people losing their jobs, especially in Mpumalanga, which is a coal-rich province. This is despite the fact that some countries like Germany are massively going back to coal to produce energy.
Ramathuba has been living on the edge since she made those claims about people coming from Zimbabwe to abuse our health facilities. This week she was attacked for being harsh on a clinic supervisor who was clearly not doing her job well. Ramathuba is in fact trying to fix a rotten public health system and she should be applauded for that.
Majuba was also recently attacked for things that were done by corrupt thugs who pretend to be service providers. It is worrying that the attacks come just after Mpumalanga announced its matric results with an improvement of 3.4%.
It is said that these attacks are driven by factional tendencies with the hope of securing an MEC position for a certain individual, who, once deployed, will assist them with tenders. This we must refuse as South Africans. Let’s not attack leaders for the sake of it.
Tom Mhlanga, Braamfontein
READER LETTER | Praise leaders when they do good
Image: Esa Alexander
South Africans seem to be suffering from a serious disease, one that makes them unaware of their own surrounding. In the end, this makes them not to know what they want. For the past few years since the dawn of democracy, there has been a public outcry about service delivery.
Some blamed it on lack of political will, while some blamed it on cadre deployment, patronage and lack of skills. It is true that there is sometimes an abuse of power by those in position of authority in government where they employ family members and friends, which has affected service delivery.
However, there are some instances where we, as South Africans, need to defend our leaders when they do good things; we need to encourage them to do better because that will benefit the country as a whole. For instance, there has recently been a dangerous campaign against minister of minerals and energy Gwede Mantashe, Limpopo health MEC Phophi Ramathuba and Mpumalanga education MEC Bonakele Majuba.
These leaders are unfairly targeted for trying to save us from the mess that we find ourselves in. Mantashe’s sin is to be against the shift from coal to nuclear, which is leading to the closure of some mines and obviously people losing their jobs, especially in Mpumalanga, which is a coal-rich province. This is despite the fact that some countries like Germany are massively going back to coal to produce energy.
Ramathuba has been living on the edge since she made those claims about people coming from Zimbabwe to abuse our health facilities. This week she was attacked for being harsh on a clinic supervisor who was clearly not doing her job well. Ramathuba is in fact trying to fix a rotten public health system and she should be applauded for that.
Majuba was also recently attacked for things that were done by corrupt thugs who pretend to be service providers. It is worrying that the attacks come just after Mpumalanga announced its matric results with an improvement of 3.4%.
It is said that these attacks are driven by factional tendencies with the hope of securing an MEC position for a certain individual, who, once deployed, will assist them with tenders. This we must refuse as South Africans. Let’s not attack leaders for the sake of it.
Tom Mhlanga, Braamfontein
Mbalula calls for ANC members to protect Mantashe amid criticism over energy crisis
Union condemns Limpopo health MEC for chastising staff publicly
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