I'd love to be a fly on the wall of President Jacob Zuma's office (or lounge, bathroom, chauffeured car, his new Nkandla office) when he does, what seem to have become regular, cabinet reshuffles. How does he choose where people will be 'deployed' to? What are the criteria (pulling straws, flipping coins)? I'm sure it must be tough. Or not. With the ANC's policy of 'cadre deployment' one could simply conclude it comes down to who's the most loyal and sycophantic. Cynical and reductionist answer, sure, but with the behaviour of some cabinet ministers, it's maybe the only conclusion, as dispirited and jaundiced as it is, we should and are able to come to.
It's also partly a case of who would be dumb/brave/desperate enough to accept an offer to become a government minister, especially one tasked with taking over a portfolio as damned as that of Public Works. I often wonder what were the reasons Thulas Nxesi agreed to taken a sip from that now suitably poisoned chalice that is the Public Works ministry. He's been in his position for just under a year, having 'inherited' the position of minister from Gwen Nkabinde-Mahlangu, who was sent packing after the SAPS building lease debacle further reinforced the damning downward spiral Public Works was following. In politics nothing happens quickly, so I'll forgive Nxesi, to a point, for not having been able to effectively rehabilitate his department. Up until last week I liked the language Nxesi was talking. Words like 'dysfunctional', 'disarray', 'urgent action' were used in seemingly frank and honest tones when Nxesi described the state the ministry has been in. I like tough love, particularly in government, purely because it allows no space for sentiment and emotions. And Nxesi appeared to be taking this approach, freeing himself of brain dead towing of party lines. That was until last Friday (5th October). Like Public Works ministers before him, Nxesi had developed a long face, scarred with a frown framed by a distinct irritated tone in his voice and a neurotic-paranoid state of mind. These have become symptoms of all Public Works bosses. He was dealing with yet another scandal involving the ministry. Sharp, trenchant questions from reporters on the now scandalous Nkandla project (or 'Zumaville' as we can cheekily label it) sent him into that corner where his predecessors and politicians generally go to whine, clumsily defend, accuse, skirt around the edges, pass-the-buck and awkwardly deny when confronted with sensitive matters. Very little came of that Friday press conference in the way of intelligible explainations as to why it's perfectly fine for taxpayers to be bankrolling the R200 million plus Nkandla development. Instead Nxesi adopted the attitude of his predecessors by crouching in the above-mentioned corner and blaming the media and everyone else for being sensationalistic, inflammatory, irresponsible. An opportunity to show he's different from those before him was squandered. He reinforced his threats of launching an investigation, not to determine if something is rotten with the whole issue, but ostensibly to reveal whistle blowers and pesky informants who keep 'leaking' information to the media and perpetuating the label of 'Public Work-less' which the department has come to be known as by many.
Nkandla is just one niggling concern involving Public Works. The cliche 'only the tip of the iceberg' sums it up perfectly when talking about the mountain of problems actually facing the department.
I made a point of recording the number of times the department has been mentioned in recent weeks at various Parliamentary Portfolio Committee meetings. And not it glowing terms. I distinctly recall a delegation of officials from Correctional Services outlining to a committee how the many problems with Public Works in turn impact on their job, in one way or another. For example, the building of a number of new prisons has been in some way impeded because of issues dogging Public Works. I've lost count how many times complaints surfaced in Police Portfolio Committee meetings directed at Public Works and how it's ongoing shortcomings are having a domino affect. At a Health Portfolio Committee gathering, the ailing ministry (Public Works that is) kept being brought up as an impediment of some kind to hospital refurbishment projects.
Everything in government overlaps at some point and clearly the botheration plaguing Public Works is not isolated. Much like corruption, it's dysfunction is becoming endemic. Nxesi may've been handed a poisoned chalice. However, instead of simply throwing the contents out, he's quite happy to continue sipping from the same container Stella Sigcau, Geoff Doidge and Gwen Nkabinde-Mahlangu drank from. He's quite content chasing whistle blowers , attacking the media and kow-towing to the ANC, where he could instead actually revive, at the very least, the Public Works department's soiled image. Much like the many government buildings and structures Public Works is responsible for (as part of its mandate), the department has itself become a ghetto-type tenement, inhabited by individuals who don't seem to care about the alarming state of disrepair it's in.
