African National Congress (ANC) chief administrator Fikile Mbalula has defended the decision of President Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint Dina Pule as minister of social development despite a dark cloud hanging over the ANC Women’s League deputy secretary-general.
Pule was fired by former President Jacob Zuma in 2013 for a nepotism scandal that involved her then-boyfriend.
But Ramaphosa this week shocked many when she announced her as the replacement for scandal-prone Sisisi Tolashe, who was sacked recently following a string of misdemeanours.
Pule has paid for her ‘mistakes’
But according to Mbalula, Pule has paid her dues for her historical issues and cannot be punished forever.
Mbalula insists that Pule, by being fired by Zuma and resigning at the time, had effectively paid the price for her “mistakes”.
But moreover, charged Mbalula who was reading from a “brief”, Pule is rehabilitated and has repented after dissappearing for many years after her sacking in 2013.
Punishing her for old sins, he said, would be unfair when people who had committed worse sins that sent them to prison have been accepted back by society and are serving at the highest level.
In regard, he cited uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party deputy president Tony Yengeni, sport minister Gayton McKenzie and Mayibuye Movement head of mobilisation Themba “Skeem GP” Nzimande who are all ex-convicts serving at the highest level.
‘Some are now politicians… have done horrible things’
“I have seen people who have opened podcasts (Skeem GP) you do not know whether they have been rehabilitated or what, some of them are now politicians but have done horrible things,” said Mbalula.
“Some are now ministers (McKenzie). But after a period of time society has accepted them that they have rehabilitated. This is an example of things that are real and harsh. Another leader who left the ANC (Yengeni) who went to jail for being stubborn, but he is a leader now in another party.
“But Dina (Pule) did not even reach those levels. And now she must be permanently judged as this person who is unrepentant? We believe that she has repented.”
Mbalula said Pule was well within her right to serve the people of this country at the highest level.
It was also concerning, he continued, that people are raising red flags about Pule when there was no such when she got elected into the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) and ANC Women’s League after her political sabbatical to repent.
Positive outcome of ANC renewal process
In Mbalula’s view, Pule should actually be seen as a positive outcome of ANC’s so-called renewal for having accepted her sins, worked on her self and rose from the ashes like a phoenix.
“Comrade Pule faced a process more than a decade ago and she was sanctioned by that process and she accepted the consequences, she stepped aside before we even made it policy. She even stepped down from her positions,” said Mbalula.
“She disappeared and went back to the ground and worked to uplift thousands of people away from the limelight. That is what accountability looks like.
“A person who has answered for her mistake, served the sanction and earned the trust of her peers and the electorate through a free choice is not to be condemned in perpetuity,” he went on.
“The criticism is harsh on this comrade (Pule). People have condemned her to the ashes even when she has repented and we have seen through her deeds, she underwent full process of rehabilitation.”
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- African National Congress (ANC) chief administrator Fikile Mbalula has defended the decision of President Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint Dina Pule as minister of social development despite a dark cloud hanging over the ANC Women’s League deputy secretary-general.
- Pule was fired by former President Jacob Zuma in 2013 for a nepotism scandal that involved her then-boyfriend.
- But Ramaphosa this week shocked many when she announced her as the replacement for scandal-prone Sisisi Tolashe, who was sacked recently following a string of misdemeanours.
- Pule has paid for her ‘mistakes’ But according to Mbalula, Pule has paid her dues for her historical issues and cannot be punished forever.
- Mbalula insists that Pule, by being fired by Zuma and resigning at the time, had effectively paid the price for her “mistakes”.
