South Africa: The questions never asked in the Deputy President saga

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The questions raised about the extent to which state resources should be used for private purposes by top leaders as a result of the trip by the South African Deputy President to the Dubai are critical to accountability. The robust debate generated by the opposition, media and watchdog bodies speaks to a healthy democracy which we should guard jealously.

However, after watching this debate unfold over the last fortnight (also the beginning of the year when the media is hungry for news, and two months before local government elections when opposition parties are making a meal out of anything they can lay their hands on) we believe that the debate has at times bordered on hysteria which undermines the principles of fair play also central to democracy.

Let us respond upfront to the inevitable criticism that we are writing this article because the Deputy President is a woman. We subscribe to the Fifty Fifty campaign that celebrated the appointment of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. We believe that this campaign does not end with getting women into power. Part of supporting any leader is to engage in constructive criticism of their performance.

While fully supporting the scrutiny that the Deputy President has been placed under our considered view is that there have been some double standards in the way this case has been pursued and that many key contextual questions have not been raised, let alone answered, despite the volumes now written on the saga.

For example, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and others have acknowledged that Mlambo-Ngcuka is not the first person in her position to have used a defense force flight for private trips, apparently a standard practice. Yet to date neither the media, the opposition nor the Public Services Accountability Monitor (PSAM) have provided any data on who else has used these facilities, how much this has cost, and whether they too should be repaying this money. Where, for example, does President Mbeki spend his holidays, who does he take, how does he get there, and who foots the bill?

Scrolling back a few years ago South African Airways announced amid great fanfare that it would be providing free first class tickets to former President Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel anywhere they wished to go for whatever reason for the rest of their lives. Why did no one question this gesture by the national airline, or compute how much it has cost?

Surely an equally important story to how the R700 000 in this instance might otherwise have been spent is how many millions have been spent in similar circumstances without ever being questioned?

If the root of the problem is ambivalent statutes and rule books why, eleven years into our democracy, has this never been raised before? Do those responsible for scrutinising state expenditure, including the opposition and media, also have a case to answer for not doing their job?

The problem with personal rather than principled attacks is that all sense of balance gets lost. The most pathetic argument to date is Douglas Gibson’s response that the Ngcukas should pay the money back because they can afford to do so. Are we to believe that if prevailing practice afforded Gibson a perk that he could afford to pay he would dig into his pockets and do so?

Amid the hype, the media has also at moments lost sight of some of the basic principles of fairness intrinsic to the profession. For example, a rumour that Saki Macozoma also went on the trip that later proved unfounded not only made the front page of one newspaper but witnessed another newspaper quoting this newspaper’s “speculation” on his involvement!

The more sober commentaries make the valid point that the issue is not so much whether rules have been broken but how judgment has been exercised in applying the rules: a critical test of leadership.

These commentators have noted that the incident, which they regard as a serious lapse of judgement on the part of the Deputy President and reflection of poor crisis management by the presidency, is unfortunate in the context of a first six months in office in which she has demonstrated competence, hard work and a keen grasp of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative that she is driving.

Having interacted professionally with the Deputy President in this and other contexts, we suspect that the toughest critic of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is none other than herself. A former teacher, one of her favourite sayings is: “engage me”. In this instance the nation has surely done so.

To the extent that a wrong doing has been committed SCOPA and the Public Protector have begun their investigations, and they must now make a finding. Beyond that, the Deputy President, who has publicly admitted that she “messed up” – a confession not commonly made by any of our other leaders - is no doubt conducting her own painful introspection and assessing her next moves.

In one of his latest cartoons Zapiro depicts a note of congratulations from Mlambo-Ngcuka to the two new women presidents of Liberia and Chile with the post script: remember to take public transport when you go on holiday. Ironically, it is probably just the kind of note she would write.

The writers are Executive Director, Assistant Director and Senior Researcher at Gender Links. This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service that provides fresh views on everyday news.

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