And no, it’s not a Zimbabwean¹ headache. Although Jacob Zuma is sure to be getting a few of those over the next five years. It is much closer to home. Sb’u Ndebele, the new Minister of Transport, and his brand new Mercedes Benz (and a couple of other things like a plasma television and two head of cattle) is the issue this time.

“… and how Jacob Zuma handles the situation will set the tone around graft, corruption and gifts of gratitude for the rest of his term of office …”

Sb’u Ndebele, by all accounts, did a wonderful job of fostering the creation of small businesses in KwaZulu Natal. It was all part of Vukuzakhe, the Emerging Contractors Development Programme. And the contractors wanted to thank him for turning some of them into millionaires.

Obviously, Sb’u Ndebele, would like to keep such a wonderful expression of gratitude. But even though he says there is no conflict of interest, he is not sure about the protocols involved and has shuffled the decision to his boss. Why he couldn’t make the decision himself says a lot about where government ministers minds are on the issue of corruption. If this was seen by him as corrupt the answer was easy. A simple yes or no was all that was required, and then live with the consequences (including the car and cattle) if he chose wrong,

He has now made his issue Jacob Zuma’s issue, and how Jacob Zuma handles the situation will set the tone around graft, corruption and gifts of gratitude for the rest of his term of office.

If Jacob Zuma allows Sb’u Ndebele to keep the car he is implicitly supporting corruption and graft. Firstly, he is seemingly flying in the face of a Cabinet code of ethics rule. Secondly, he is re-enforcing the perception (no conviction is a perception, Mrs Zille) that he is corrupt and that he tolerates corruption from his comrades. Thirdly, every election promise would have to be seen in the light of reneging on one of the biggest promises made, so soon after taking office; in other words, Jacob Zuma is not to be trusted.

If, on the other hand, Jacob Zuma refuses Sb’u Ndebele permission to keep the car (or advises against keeping it if there is no permission issue) he is putting himself and his cabinet on the moral high road. The message is then very clear: this administration will not tolerate corruption of any sort, by anyone, even that which is seemingly borderline. It also helps to put Zuma’s own corruption tainted history behind him and blow away a few of the clouds hanging over his head. And the opposition, which in this case includes his allies at COSATU, will have to concede that the right thing has been done.

A lot hinges on this decision for Jacob Zuma. Let’s hope, for his sake and the country’s, that he makes the correct one. Unfortunately for Sb’u Ndebele, the future vision should not include he or his wife driving around in a new Mercedes.

¹ For our foreign readers, the Ndebele are a people of Northern South Africa and Southern Zimbabwe. Links compliments of Wikipedia.

Tags: corruption, jacob zuma, sb'u ndebele, transport

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 2:21 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.