The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Mr Gwede Mantashe, confirmed by means of two alleged statements on Saturday the FF Plus’s worst fears about his competence to hold a public office.
At the ANC’s Eastern Cape elective conference on Saturday, he warned, according to media reports, that any board member of the National Nuclear Regulator who resists nuclear power must expect to be removed from office.
He, furthermore, also lashed out at Ms Busisiwe Mavuso, Eskom board member, because she recently criticised the ANC in front of the parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts.
His first statement was obviously aimed at Mr Peter Becker. In January this year, he was permanently dismissed as a board member of the Regulator. He was also the chairperson of the Koeberg Alert Alliance, which openly warned against the dangers of nuclear power.
At the time, the FF Plus strongly voiced its objection to the step seeing as it appears as if Mantashe does not realise that a regulatory body is actually supposed to represent the interests of all stakeholders. Becker was meant to bring balance to a council that is otherwise very much in favour of this technology.
With his statement, Mantashe makes it clear that he thinks an independent regulatory authority ought to be a support group.
In his other statement, Mantashe was referring to a meeting of the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts where Ms Mavuso stated that the ANC is to blame for the problem at Eskom and not the current council nor the CEO, Mr André de Ruyter.
Mantashe is exacerbating the controversy seeing as Ms Mavuso was asked to leave the meeting after making the statement. According to Mantashe, people who crave attention attack the ANC.
Mantashe reportedly said, “We put someone in a [position] and they then insult the ANC.”
With that he implied that the party had put Ms Mavuso on the Eskom board, which is meant to be independent. And as a result, he believes that she ought to be loyal to the ANC.
The FF Plus has been pointing out for more than two decades that the ANC does not have any regard for the independence of so-called independent institutions, but instead sees them as opportunities for cadre deployment. And Mantashe has now confirmed that it is indeed the case.
So, at the head of this key portfolio is a Minister whose views on good governance and the relationship between party and state are stuck in the pre-1991 East Bloc countries. If President Cyril Ramaphosa retains this Minister in his Cabinet after he made those statements, the President should not wonder why the people are increasingly losing faith in his government.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Dr. Wynand Boshoff on FF Plus
