ANC ‘Class of 2016’ Fails to get a single A on Cabinet Report Card

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and most of his Cabinet received an ‘F’ rating for their 2016 performance on their Cabinet Report Card. The report was presented by opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane in Parliament on Wednesday.

Maimane said it is “a comprehensive assessment of President Zuma and his Cabinet, which reflects a wholly unaccountable government that prioritises the narrow political interests of the ANC ahead of the needs of our country and its people.”

The annual overview scores Members on a scale from A to F with A being the highest score and F the lowest. Nobody got an A this year!

President: Jacob Zuma (F-)

The DA lists it all, with detail – from Zuma’s replacing of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene with Des van Rooyen (which cost the economy billions of rands) to Nkandla and violating the Constitution, the State Report etc. etc.

“While the President has jumped from one scandal to the next, barely surviving, the country is burning… In any other democracy, his presidency would not have survived 2016.”

President Zuma thus scores an F-, says the DA, the lowest possible grade. Immediate expulsion is recommended!

Deputy President: Cyril Ramaphosa (D)

The DA says he’s an “accessory” to Zuma’s “growing corruption scandals, and amongst other faults recently announced a national minimum wage, which the DA believes will be detrimental and cost 715,000 jobs and – quoting the Treasury – says it will slash 2.1% off the GDP.

Minister of State Security: David Mahlobo (F)

The Minister has been linked to organised crime, says Maimane, through a man who is linked to illicit trafficking and poaching of rhinos. He also lied, according to the DA, by saying he never met with Mcebo Dlamini “only a few days after he was recorded saying that Mcebo Dlamini had been to his house several times”.

Minister of Water and Sanitation: Nomvula Mokonyane (F)

The Minister is to be blamed for the current water crisis which was clearly forewarned, says the DA. She also doesn’t have a plan and has been involved in several scandals including “corruption in the Lesotho Highlands water project”.

Minister of Social Development: Bathabile Dlamini (F)

Amongst her various failures – according to the DA – is her “blind support for the President”, “disregard for the marginalised people”, and penchant for luxury living and travelling (residing at the 5-star Oyster Box Hotel in Durban for over 30 days, at R11,000 per night and spending over half a million on a trip to a conference in the USA).

Minister of Public Enterprises: Lynne Brown (F)

The Minister has lost all credibility, says the DA – “implicated in state capture”, a Zuma and Gupta “puppet”, lacks leadership qualities or “commitment to bettering South Africa”.

Minister of Police: Nathi Nhleko (F)

“Minister Nhleko personifies everything that is wrong in the Police portfolio: incompetent leadership, skewed priorities and lack of accountability,” read the report card. Under him, the SA police force remains under-staffed and under-trained. His lacklustre performance is “disastrous for the fight against crime”.

Minister of Mineral Resources: Mosebenzi Zwane (F-)

Minister Zwane is another “captured pawn of the Gupta family”, even going to Switzerland to assist the Gupta family to secure lucrative state contracts, says the DA. The report recommends he should resign or be fired.

Minister of Labour: Mildred Oliphant (F)

Minister Oliphant “has presided over the Department of Labour through the most horrific job-shedding that South Africa has ever seen”, says the DA, with 9 million capable people who cannot find a job in the country. She should also be removed, says Maimane, for her “unethical behaviour”, poor administration etc.

Minister of Higher Education and Training: Blade Nzimande (E)

The student crisis is the result of years of funding neglect by the government, and the Minister and his department are floundering and putting our Universities at risk, says the DA.

Minister of International Relations & Cooperation: Maite Nkoana-Mashabane (F)

Her department is leaderless and SA’s foreign policy “flip-flops and has essentially cost the country its international credibility”. She refuses to attend committee meetings showing “she does not believe she is accountable to Parliament”.

Minister of Defence and Military Veterans: Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (E)

“More focused on ensuring luxury travels for the President by procuring a new intercontinental VIP Jet” and has “personally been embroiled in the scandal of providing passage to a Burundian woman in a military aircraft in an apparently illegal manner”.

Minister of Communications: Faith Muthambi (F)

Minister Muthambi’s tenure has been an “unmitigated disaster” particularly regarding the SABC and failure to ensure Hlaudi Motsoeneng was suspended. Also, the Minister’s “bungling of the Digital Migration programme will mean that the 5 million identified indigent households cannot benefit from the promised set-top boxes”.

Minister of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs: Des Van Rooyen (F-)

In a word – “ineffectual”, says the DA. He tried to interdict the release of the State Capture Report and is a “vocal defender of the Gupta family and President Zuma”.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Senzeni Zokwana (F)

He has also “managed to get himself entrapped in a number of costly fisheries court cases”, and has no plan for adequately dealing with the country’s worst drought in history.

A few C’s and B’s

There were two B’s – one for Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology, for the third year in a row – her department is well managed and consistently hit its targets (and she’s good enough to regularly attend Parliamentary sittings, unlike some of her peers!).

The other B rating went to everyone’s favourite Minister of Finance – Pravin Gordhan – for staving off the junk status, running the Treasury well, and being able to commit to a “prudent, sustainable fiscal policy trajectory” while being investigated by Adv Shaun Abrahams.

Four Ministers were given a C rating. These include, Tourism Minister, Derek Hanekom, Economic Development Minister, Ebrahim Patel, Public Service and Adminstration Minister, Ngoako Ramatlhodi, and Arts and Culture Minister, Nathi Mthethwa.

Source (and read the full report here):www.da.org.za