Editorial

Welcome move on Tolashe, but what about Phala Phala?

By Sunday World
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President Cyril Ramaphosa has finally bowed to what public outrage demanded: he has fired Minister of Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe. For that decisive act, he deserves measured praise. However, cleaning a single stain off the Cabinet table does not erase the much larger one festering in his own backyard. The Tolashe dismissal does not absolve Ramaphosa of is duty to fully answer for the Phala Phala scandal.

The case against Tolashe was damning and relentless. Her exit, confirmed by the Presidency on Thursday, is a victory for consequence management in a culture often allergic to it. The allegations were not merely administrative slip-ups; they reeked of entitlement and abuse of power.

First, there was the brazen matter of the luxury vehicles. Tolashe misled Parliament by claiming two SUVs, donated by Chinese officials to the ANC Women’s League, were for the organisation. Investigative journalism later revealed a different story: the vehicles were registered under her children’s names. Her defence – that she was protecting the cars from the league’s creditors – insulted the intelligence of every South African.


Second, the rot extended to her office management. Reports surfaced that a state-paid domestic worker was allegedly forced to pay a portion of her salary to Tolashe’s daughter. Furthermore, the president was forced to act after the Public Service Commission found that Tolashe’s special advisor, who has now been suspended, had manipulated the CV of a 22-year-old relative to secure a senior post in her private office. This was not leadership; it was a family enterprise funded by the fiscus.

We welcome Ramaphosa’s decision to wield the axe. Acting minister Sindisiwe Chikunga has a mountain of work ahead to restore dignity to a department serving the nation’s most vulnerable. However, we issue a stern caution to the president: Do not mistake this act of accountability for a moral shield.

While Ramaphosa was quick to remove a minister for failing to declare luxury vehicles, he remains frustratingly evasive regarding the $580 000 in cash stuffed into sofas at his Phala Phala farm.

The nation still awaits a full, transparent accounting of the 2020 burglary. Why was the crime not reported to the police immediately? Why did the president wait for the intervention of a Namibian businessman, his advisor and his own security detail rather than the SAPS?

To fire Tolashe for “misleading Parliament” while refusing to submit himself to a similarly rigorous, transparent inquiry is to demand a standard of behaviour the president is unwilling to meet himself.

The Section 89 panel found prima facie evidence that he has questions to answer, yet those answers remain locked in legal delays and parliamentary technicalities.

Mr President, you have proven you can hold a subordinate accountable. Now, show the nation that you can do the same for yourself. The Phala Phala questions are not going away. Answer them. Once and for all. Until you do, your administration remains a spectacle of double standards, swift to judge others but slow to face its own shadow.


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  • President Cyril Ramaphosa has fired Minister of Social Development Sisisi Tolashe following public outrage.
  • This decision is seen as a positive but limited action by Ramaphosa.
  • The article suggests that removing one problematic official does not address wider issues within the government.
  • Ramaphosa is urged to take full responsibility for the unresolved Phala Phala scandal.
  • The dismissal of Tolashe is described as insufficient to restore full public trust in the Cabinet.
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President Cyril Ramaphosa has finally bowed to what public outrage demanded: he has fired Minister of Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe. For that decisive act, he deserves measured praise. However, cleaning a single stain off the Cabinet table does not erase the much larger one festering in his own backyard. The Tolashe dismissal does not absolve Ramaphosa of is duty to fully answer for the Phala Phala scandal.

The case against Tolashe was damning and relentless. Her exit, confirmed by the Presidency on Thursday, is a victory for consequence management in a culture often allergic to it. The allegations were not merely administrative slip-ups; they reeked of entitlement and abuse of power.

First, there was the brazen matter of the luxury vehicles. Tolashe misled Parliament by claiming two SUVs, donated by Chinese officials to the ANC Women’s League, were for the organisation. Investigative journalism later revealed a different story: the vehicles were registered under her children’s names. Her defence – that she was protecting the cars from the league’s creditors – insulted the intelligence of every South African.

Second, the rot extended to her office management. Reports surfaced that a state-paid domestic worker was allegedly forced to pay a portion of her salary to Tolashe’s daughter. Furthermore, the president was forced to act after the Public Service Commission found that Tolashe’s special advisor, who has now been suspended, had manipulated the CV of a 22-year-old relative to secure a senior post in her private office. This was not leadership; it was a family enterprise funded by the fiscus.

We welcome Ramaphosa’s decision to wield the axe. Acting minister Sindisiwe Chikunga has a mountain of work ahead to restore dignity to a department serving the nation’s most vulnerable. However, we issue a stern caution to the president: Do not mistake this act of accountability for a moral shield.

While Ramaphosa was quick to remove a minister for failing to declare luxury vehicles, he remains frustratingly evasive regarding the $580 000 in cash stuffed into sofas at his Phala Phala farm.

The nation still awaits a full, transparent accounting of the 2020 burglary. Why was the crime not reported to the police immediately? Why did the president wait for the intervention of a Namibian businessman, his advisor and his own security detail rather than the SAPS?

To fire Tolashe for “misleading Parliament” while refusing to submit himself to a similarly rigorous, transparent inquiry is to demand a standard of behaviour the president is unwilling to meet himself.

The Section 89 panel found prima facie evidence that he has questions to answer, yet those answers remain locked in legal delays and parliamentary technicalities.

Mr President, you have proven you can hold a subordinate accountable. Now, show the nation that you can do the same for yourself. The Phala Phala questions are not going away. Answer them. Once and for all. Until you do, your administration remains a spectacle of double standards, swift to judge others but slow to face its own shadow.

Visit SW YouTube Channel for our video content