Albert Einstein is credited with coining the adage, “in the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity”.
This phrase sprang to mind this week as the nation watched President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet ministers, particularly those in the crucial security cluster, mess up a great opportunity to get the public to rally behind their efforts to restore order after the ruinous public violence and looting last week.
Security cluster ministers such as Bheki Cele, of police, and Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, of defence, were presented by parliament with opportunities to tell the people of SA of their plans to protect them from rioting mobs associated with the recent incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma.
But, as has sadly become the trend among ANC ministers, they used the opportunities to spark a new leadership and communication crisis in the midst of a devastating disaster.
It all began on Sunday night during a meeting of parliament’s joint standing committee on defence when Mapisa-Nqakula contradicted her boss, Ramaphosa, by telling MPs the recent unrest amounted to “a counterrevolution” and not a “failed insurrection” as Ramaphosa had described it to the nation last Friday night.
All the factors tabulated above point to dysfunctionality in the highest echelons of the cabinet structure responsible for national security.
The next day, Ramaphosa’s office dismissed the defence minister’s assertion as completely ill-informed, with acting minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshaveni telling journalists: “Any contrary view ... is not supported by any facts by our law-enforcement agencies.”
Even Mapisa-Nqakula’s deputy, Thabang Makwetla, was quoted by another online publication citing concerns about his boss contradicting Ramaphosa.
Not to be outdone, Cele added to the drama of mixed messaging at another joint meeting on Tuesday with the parliamentary committees on defence and police during their oversight tour in KwaZulu-Natal.
Cele vehemently denied before MPs that he and the police had received any intelligence reports from state security minister Ayanda Dlodlo allowing the police to plan and thwart the riots that left more than 337 people dead.
Dlodlo had told journalists last week that her spooks had passed on intel files to the police to fight the political thuggery.
All the factors tabulated above point to dysfunctionality in the highest echelons of the cabinet structure responsible for national security.
It also explains why the police and other security forces were left overwhelmed by the rioting mobs while government was also slow to deploy the army to douse the flames.
How can citizens feel protected in their own land when those trusted with their safety behave in this astounding fashion?
It has become abundantly clear there is no coherence, synergy nor collegiality among ministers serving one of the most important structures of the Ramaphosa administration.
When ministers issue contradictory messages during a moment of crisis, public confidence in government efforts to remedy the situation simply gets eroded.
It’s untenable and the president has to nip the madness in the bud.
So, Mr President, the disaster caused by the recent riots presents you with the perfect opportunity to get rid of the deadwood in your cabinet – Dlodlo, Cele and Mapisa-Nqakula.
Anything to the contrary, sir, will be yet another setback to your already discredited renewal pledge.
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