President Cyril Ramaphosa has finally pulled the trigger by firing blabbermouth, suicide bomber, and now former Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Nobuhle Nkabane.
But many have reacted with anger that the same approach was not employed on another troubled member of the national executive, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who was instead placed on special leave.
Other than the slight differences in the alleged transgressions of the duo, the sole reason Ramaphosa cannot punish them the same is politics.
Political nonentity
Politically, in relation to Ramaphosa’s making and survival, Nkabane is a nonentity, while Mchunu was a significant active role player.
At the core of sustaining their political careers, politicians usually need other politicians to do so. Especially in a party political system like ours.
No matter how strongly people felt Mchunu should have been shown the door outright following serious allegations of association with criminals by KZN provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, such was simply not going to happen.
Mchunu has played a key role in catapulting Ramaphosa to the position he occupies today in the ANC as party boss and, by extension, to his standing as the chief Induna at the Union Buildings, where he is Head of State.
Cyril’s torchbearer
Heading to the ANC Nasrec 1 elective conference in 2017, Mchunu was the single most popular KZN torchbearer for CR17, as Ramaphosa’s campaign was affectionately known.
That he did with huge sacrifice as a politician from a province that was at the time overwhelmingly against Ramaphosa.
For his sacrifice at the time and for political optics, he was Ramaphosa’s running mate for the position of secretary-general, which he eventually lost to now-finished Free State strongman Ace Magashule.
But despite the drubbing, Mchunu remained firmly in Ramaphosa’s corner. And he had proven to all and sundry that even in KZN, Ramaphosa had support. And it continued to grow, thanks to his daring move pre-Nasrec 1 conference.
Two years after Ramaphosa had been elected ANC head in 2019, he rewarded Mchunu’s loyalty by appointing him to the powerful Water and Sanitation ministry following the 2019 national elections. He would shift him to Public Service and Administration in 2021.
Crucial role in Nasrec 2 congress
Mchunu was again crucial in Ramaphosa getting a second term in the ANC’s Nasrec 2 national congress in December 2022.
It was at this conference where Ramaphosa wished for the man to be given the nod to deputise him. But internal divisions within the faction were too strong for him to impose Mchunu as a deputy president candidate.
This eventually opened room for Paul Mashatile to emerge victorious. This was after he narrowly defeated Oscar Mabuyane, who was also a CR22 faction candidate.
Mchunu did not throw his toys around, he remained a committed Ramaphosa loyalist.
Fast forward to the 2024 national elections, and Mchunu would get the biggest reward yet for his loyalty to Ramaphosa when he got appointed Minister of Police.
The man walked into a ministry that was crucial for Ramaphosa’s political survival following the Phala Phala scandal that was investigated by police, among other state institutions.
In fact, Mchunu would have, after his appointment, been privileged to have sight of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) investigation report on Phala Phala, which was completed in 2023 but classified “Top Secret”.
Phala Phala skeletons
In simple language, Mchunu knows where the Phala Phala skeletons are buried.
Not only that, but he would also know a lot about the controversial and sealed CR17 bank statements. This as the man who was the direct link to the CR17 presence in KZN.
Only a politically naive Ramaphosa would make reckless moves such as summary dismissal against such a man.
Any such extreme measure against a Mchunu, who is so closely tied to him politically, would be tantamount to suicide bombing, and being the calculating political MacGyver that Ramaphosa is.
On the other hand, he could afford to send Nkabane packing. She holds no political bargaining chip at the negotiation table.
Nkabane stands accused of possible perjury for lying to parliament. This happened during the protracted scandal over the Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) panel.
Moreover, by sacrificing Nkabane, who also did not help herself by continuing to dig even when she was in a very deep political hole, Ramaphosa managed to achieve another political headache — pleasing the DA, who hold the cards for his survival at Union Buildings.
DA deputy minister
The DA top brass had recently thrown around their toys in the GNU following Ramaphosa’s gutsy firing of former Deputy Minister Andrew Whitfield of the DA for embarking on an international trip without approval.
It was the first time in the many fallouts between the ANC and DA that the latter threatened a vote of no confidence against Ramaphosa.
The threat was a clear political message that Ramaphosa would not get away with it for too long after snubbing DA’s many protests before against moves such as signing BELA and the NHI into law.
The DA’s demands included that Ramaphosa should also dismiss scandalous ANC cadres within the national executive, of which Nkabane was one.
Given her minimal political contribution, Nkabane was always the low-hanging fruit. And so Ramaphosa had to make this move in the broader chess of keeping the GNU intact.
As such, this has opened room for the DA to vote with the ANC for the passing of the national budget for the 2025–26 fiscal year.
Nkabane was easier option
The claims by some within the political discourse that Nkabane was the easier option for sacking because of her gender are political fairytales far from the truth.
The truth is it was purely politics. Where it is about what one brings to the table. And factually, Mchunu brings more than Nkabane as it relates to their boss Ramaphosa.
