DEFENCE and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale are actually Very Good Friends, or VGFs, and that's official.
How people got the impression they were attacking each other is still a mystery in government circles.
Usually when ministers appear to be bad-mouthing one another, or they say things that make themselves look silly, it is the fault of the media for quoting them out of context. Context is a wonderful thing, but quite rare, because when you ask the aggrieved politician to explain exactly what the context was, he or she talks such gibberish that no one understands the context, and everyone is profoundly thankful that the original statement wasn't in it.
But in Ms Sisulu's case she wasn't quoted out of context, because she never said it in the first place. Her spokesman, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, did. Somehow or other he got it into his head to accuse Sexwale of not launching a single project since he took over the housing portfolio from Sisulu.
He also got it into his head to tell Sexwale that his minister was quite right to spend more than R20 million on a play to explain the government's new housing plans, after Sexwale had announced he was halting performances because he had "no time for plays and theatre that had nothing to do with building houses".
Sexwale said this himself on the radio, so his spokesman is for the moment in the clear. Possibly listeners heard it out of context.
But to get back to Mabaya. If Sisulu didn't say what her spokesman did, what prompted him to say those nasty things about Sexwale? Did he read her mind? If so there has to be a great future for Mabaya in government, which is in dire need of people who can read anybody's mind, especially President Zuma's. But Sisulu is such good friends with Sexwale that she wouldn't even think bad thoughts about him.
The only explanation is that he heard voices. And having heard the voices, he issued a statement that put the wealthiest man in the cabinet in his place.
I would recommend to Sisulu that she send Mabaya off for psychological counselling before he hears any more voices ordering him to sow dissension in government ranks. Single-handed he could cause a party split.
Sexwale is in a more difficult position, not being able to pin anything on his spokesman. Has he thought of accusing a ventriloquist of putting words into his mouth? I wonder. The only danger then lies in being called a dummy.
He definitely said he planned to repair defective RDP houses at a cost of R1 billion and bring in a special team to investigate low-cost housing fraud. That's a good thing for any housing minister to say, And Sexwale would be wise not to deny it. Can you imagine what that would sound like: "I shall not be repairing defective RDP houses at a cost of R1 billion and will not be bringing in a special team to investigate low-cost housing fraud."
But this statement so annoyed Sisulu's spokesman that the voices in his head told him to point out that she had initiated the plans for the repair of the houses and the fraud inquiry while she was still housing minister. Naturally Sisulu herself would never dream of hurting Sexwale's feelings by saying such a thing herself.
That is why they issued a joint statement that they were "surprised and taken aback at complete misinterpretations of their working relationship, and have vowed not to let distortions drive them apart".
VGFs joined at the hip, practically.
This article was originally published on page 8 of The Cape Times on December 02, 2009
How people got the impression they were attacking each other is still a mystery in government circles.
Usually when ministers appear to be bad-mouthing one another, or they say things that make themselves look silly, it is the fault of the media for quoting them out of context. Context is a wonderful thing, but quite rare, because when you ask the aggrieved politician to explain exactly what the context was, he or she talks such gibberish that no one understands the context, and everyone is profoundly thankful that the original statement wasn't in it.
But in Ms Sisulu's case she wasn't quoted out of context, because she never said it in the first place. Her spokesman, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, did. Somehow or other he got it into his head to accuse Sexwale of not launching a single project since he took over the housing portfolio from Sisulu.
| VGFs joined at the hip, practically |
Sexwale said this himself on the radio, so his spokesman is for the moment in the clear. Possibly listeners heard it out of context.
But to get back to Mabaya. If Sisulu didn't say what her spokesman did, what prompted him to say those nasty things about Sexwale? Did he read her mind? If so there has to be a great future for Mabaya in government, which is in dire need of people who can read anybody's mind, especially President Zuma's. But Sisulu is such good friends with Sexwale that she wouldn't even think bad thoughts about him.
The only explanation is that he heard voices. And having heard the voices, he issued a statement that put the wealthiest man in the cabinet in his place.
I would recommend to Sisulu that she send Mabaya off for psychological counselling before he hears any more voices ordering him to sow dissension in government ranks. Single-handed he could cause a party split.
Sexwale is in a more difficult position, not being able to pin anything on his spokesman. Has he thought of accusing a ventriloquist of putting words into his mouth? I wonder. The only danger then lies in being called a dummy.
He definitely said he planned to repair defective RDP houses at a cost of R1 billion and bring in a special team to investigate low-cost housing fraud. That's a good thing for any housing minister to say, And Sexwale would be wise not to deny it. Can you imagine what that would sound like: "I shall not be repairing defective RDP houses at a cost of R1 billion and will not be bringing in a special team to investigate low-cost housing fraud."
But this statement so annoyed Sisulu's spokesman that the voices in his head told him to point out that she had initiated the plans for the repair of the houses and the fraud inquiry while she was still housing minister. Naturally Sisulu herself would never dream of hurting Sexwale's feelings by saying such a thing herself.
That is why they issued a joint statement that they were "surprised and taken aback at complete misinterpretations of their working relationship, and have vowed not to let distortions drive them apart".
VGFs joined at the hip, practically.
This article was originally published on page 8 of The Cape Times on December 02, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment