Makhosonke Mkhaliphi: The game of politics, or rather politricks, in South Africa never ceases to amaze - especially the "chopping-and-changing" of ministers from national to provinces.
One reads with astonishment how President Zuma has been praised in the past few weeks for "firing lazy ministers". It dates back to the Thabo Mbeki era, when ministers and government officials were sacked willy nilly and treated like children, just because they happened to fall out of the Big Boss's favour.
This is a huge embarrassment, particularly on the provincial level. For example, in Mpumalanga there have been more than five MECs for health in seven years. This is ridiculous, and time is being wasted here.
How on earth do these ministers get into such positions without proper screening? Why, in the first place, appoint a failure? Can't the system come up with proper assessment of ministers before they play with taxpayers' money? Or is it because the president was trying to reward those who were loyal to him before his ascent to power? The years wasted in office by these incompetent ministers cannot be recovered, let alone the corruption that takes place on a daily basis.
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