JUSTICE MALALA | Why is Ramaphosa still sending Jonas to Washington?

I confess that I am astounded that Mcebisi Jonas, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pick for the role of South Africa’s envoy to the US, has still not resigned. I am equally shocked that here we are, a week after the announcement, and the minister or director-general responsible for vetting senior appointees such as that of special envoy, has still not resigned in embarrassment or been fired.

Just as astonishing is the fact that not one of Ramaphosa’s long list of advisers pulled him aside and said appointing Jonas was a bad idea given his previous utterances. 

I should not be surprised. The bar is low in our government and accountability is virtually non-existent. So no-one will take responsibility for this fiasco until President Donald Trump’s administration refuses to even meet Jonas when he goes knocking on their door. What I am saying is, who is responsible for this almighty mess and who is going to be held responsible? 

Ramaphosa knows MTN, the company that Jonas chairs, extremely well. Like Jonas, he used to head its board. He knows that it has ongoing litigation around Iran that raises questions over it, rightly or wrongly, from the Trump administration’s perspective. Ramaphosa should have considered this from the onset. It should have made him pause because it would be a distraction for Jonas’ pivotal work. Yet South Africa’s chief executive did not think about this at all, or swatted it aside. 

It tells you something: the president has not seriously weighed the sheer scale of the Trump administration’s views and actions on South Africa. He does not appreciate the seriousness of the situation.  The president’s head is stuck in the sand. That can be the only reason he thinks it’s okay to send an envoy to America whose first order of business is to explain his company’s ties in Iran.

Then let’s move on to the genius who runs the agency that has to vet appointees such as Jonas. I am assuming that he was vetted for this project, but knowing this administration, this appointment was probably considered over drumsticks in parliament and no actual vetting was done.

I am amazed that there is anyone in our political leadership who still thinks that Jonas can be effective in this crucial endeavour. I am amazed that Ramaphosa is still sending him to Washington. 

I am interested in the fact that within an hour of the announcement the likes of AfriForum and Solidarity had unearthed speeches and video of Jonas calling Trump a racist, homophobe and all sorts of other names. Is the minister responsible for the agency that vets people going to be held accountable for not spotting these remarks and making Ramaphosa look like an incompetent fool? 

I know embarrassment is in short supply in our government, but seriously, it’s not a good look when you make an announcement of this nature and within an hour you are showed up to be an incompetent who can’t even do basic vetting of a candidate for such a serious job. Is there going to be a process to determine just how this embarrassing set of events came to pass? Or is this just the way South Africa does things - don’t do your job, embarrass the country and the president, and clock in for work the next day?

Those who’ve been reading this column for a while know that I am a great fan of Jonas. Yet, surely, this admirable man who stood up against the corruption of the Gupta family and their tools (Duduzane Zuma allegedly offered him a R600m bribe on behalf of the family) should have known that his past utterances would make it hard for him to make headway in Washington. Why didn’t he just tell Ramaphosa? Or did he tell Ramaphosa and the president just brushed it aside? 

Ramaphosa aside, why hasn’t Jonas resigned? This is an extremely intelligent man who knows that he is going to be humiliated in Washington. He will have to start every meeting by having to explain himself first. If you start every meeting with an apology then you are losing. He is dead on arrival in Washington. 

There is a much broader and far more depressing issue here. The fact that we don’t care who is responsible for this entire fiasco, that we don’t want accountability for this mistake, is indicative of a country that does not care about competence or excellence. We let things slide. Acts of sheer incompetence are tolerated. The mediocre rise to the top. 

This one mistake will accelerate our removal from the lucrative African Growth and Opportunity Act (if it survives in September). This mistake has made us a joke on the international diplomatic circuit. It makes South Africa look amateurish, incompetent, buffoonish and unserious. 

I am amazed that there is anyone in our political leadership who still thinks that Jonas can be effective in this crucial endeavour. I am amazed that Ramaphosa is still sending him to Washington. 

South Africa doesn’t need enemies. We do such a brilliant job of sabotaging ourselves. 

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