15 Aug 2007: ISS Today: South Africa: Toe the Government Line or be Damned?

15 August 2007: South Africa: Toe the Government Line or be Damned?

 

President Thabo Mbeki’s decision to sack his deputy health minister is perplexing. Contrast this with his decision earlier this year to remove control of national AIDS policy from controversial health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who was undergoing a liver-transplant at the time. In a move widely welcomed by AIDS activists he placed control in the hands of the South African National Aids Council, led by deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Many read this as a sign that Mbeki was finally distancing himself from his long-time ally, Tshabalala-Msimang, the source of international derision for consistently advocating unconventional methods of preventing the advance of AIDS, such as the consumption of garlic and beetroot.  Together with Mlambo-Ngcuka the recently sacked deputy health minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, has been lauded for leading the development of the HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plan.

 

Mbeki’s stated reasons for dismissing Madlala-Routledge remain baffling, despite his office sharing her letter of dismissal with the media in the past week. While he argues that she has not been a team player, media reports cited numerous examples of executive members who remain in their cosseted positions despite a less than exemplary track record in upholding the rules governing ministerial conduct. Should such rules governing conduct not be applied equally? Another reason cited by Mbeki is her travel to attend an international conference in Spain which he had not approved. This is a peripheral issue when compared to conduct by other senior politicians.

 

What is it about Madlala-Routledge that could have incited the President to take such drastic action? Contrary to what Mbeki’s explanation suggests, ministerial accountability is not the central issue. Given the tenuous grounds on which the dismissal has been effected, it is reasonable to argue that the appeal to ministerial accountability masks something more fundamental. Analysts have already alluded to a link between Madlala-Routledge’s aggressive approach in combating HIV/AIDS and her subsequent dismissal. Though this interpretation may not completely miss the mark it borders on the sensational, as it seeks to revive old controversies around Mbeki’s alleged HIV/AIDS denialism. It also risks unduly conferring the status of martyrdom upon the axed deputy minister.

 

Careful examination of government politics under Mbeki’s leadership suggests that Madlala-Routledge’s dismissal concerns more fundamental issues than HIV/AIDS policies. The actual events leading to her dismissal center on the former deputy minister’s discovery and public condemnation of shocking maternity conditions at the Eastern Cape Mount Frere Hospital, following an unannounced visit. Her description of avoidable infant mortality at the hospital as a crisis did little to endear her to senior members of the cabinet.

 

At the heart of the Madlala-Routledge saga is Mbeki’s apparent increasing intolerance for alternative voices within his government, together with a leadership style that fosters a culture of uncritical obedience to the leader. The deputy health minister no doubt displayed patterns of behavior that did not conform to this slavish mindset. In sacking the deputy health minister, President Thabo Mbeki’s message is loud and clear: toe the official line or risk being hung out to dry. One wonders how many ruling party representatives are keeping silent for fear of the president’s wrath. Can we still boast of a democratic system when government representatives with different opinions from the president are shown the door?

 

While the enforcement of ministerial accountability is both necessary and desirable in an aspiring democratic state like South Africa, it must not be used to achieve narrow political agendas. The enforcement of accountability should primarily be for the broader public benefit rather than the appeasement of the country’s most senior public servant.

 

Andile Sokomani, Corruption and Governance Programme, ISS Cape Town