Fikile Mbalula. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
Fikile “Razzmattaz” Mbalula, former police minister and ANC MP, also known as “Minister Fearfokol”, “Minister Beyonce”, “Minister of Twitter”, and a host of other pseudonyms, is “now a full member of black Twitter”.
That was the only announcement made on Mbalula’s Twitter account yesterday morning, shortly after news of his resignation from parliament was announced in an e-mail from the ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu’s office.
Mbalula himself made no mention of his resignation, but according to Mthembu’s statement, he had already submitted his resignation to parliament on February 26, shortly after he was replaced as minister of police by Bheki Cele.
Spokesperson in the chief whip’s office, Nonceba Mhlauli, confirmed that Mbalula had sent his resignation letter to the speaker of parliament, Baleka Mbete, last month, and they received it yesterday. He did not provide any reasons for his resignation, but it is believed that his full-time position as ANC head of elections necessitated it.
“While comrade Mbalula’s departure from parliament will leave a void,” the statement regarding Mbalula’s resignation said, “we derive satisfaction from the knowledge that he will continue serving the movement as the ANC’s head of elections” for 2019.
Mbalula was appointed to this position following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet reshuffle. Mbalula had openly backed Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to replace former president Jacob Zuma as the president of the ANC. His first stint in the Cabinet came after he was elected to the ANC’s NEC at the 2007 Polokwane conference.
He joined Jacob Zuma’s executive in 2009 as deputy police minister, under the man who has now replaced him in the same position. He served as sport minister, from 2010 till March 2017 and following a January 2014 Bafana Bafana defeat to Nigeria, he famously referred to the national football team as “a bunch of losers — unbearable, useless individuals”.
His first three years in the sport portfolio saw him spend R110 million on awards ceremonies, while the total budget for the South African Olympic team was a paltry R25 million. He also famously attempted to lure international songstress Beyonce to perform at one of these ceremonies, but his budget did not allow it.
In October 2017, Eyewitness News reported that a supplier of the national Olympic kit, allegedly sponsored a luxury getaway for Mbalula and his family, worth R300 000, to Dubai. These allegations still had to be addressed by the time Mbalula was redeployed as police minister.
His stint as police minister lasted just under 12 months, but this period wasn’t without incident either. He often came under fire for using social media platform Twitter, to announce police operations and successes, and often engaged in twitter wars with rivals, such as EFF leader Julius Malema.
Three police officers recently launched legal action against Mbalula after he allegedly defamed them on Twitter. On that occasion, he tweeted that several officers on Johannesburg’s East Rand had been replaced allegedly due to criminality.
He apologised, but the officers, represented by police union Sapu, said in a statement they will each sue Mbalula for R500 000.
But the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union believe Mbalula’s stint as police minister was too short and that he could have brought about positive changes in the force, had he been allowed to stay.
Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo, told The Citizen that they had had some good interactions with Mbalula and he had a clear six-point plan with which he wanted to improve policing and reduce crime.
“He was very lively, and sometimes he spoke more than he acted,” Mamabolo said. “But his six-point plan clearly defined what kind of person he was and what kind of police force he wanted. He wanted police stations to be people-centred service delivery centres.
“He was the kind of person anyone can work with, I am sure he will do well in whatever future contribution he makes to the country.”
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