No cushy diplomatic job for Bathabile Dlamini, presidency says

The presidency has dismissed suggestions that a cushy diplomatic deployment has been reserved for controversial former social development minister, Bathabile Dlamini.

The rumour sparked an outcry from the public and opposition parties, which said such an appointment would be irrational and unconstitutional.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko lambasted the Democratic Alliance (DA) which claimed to have received a report that the president intended to appoint Dlamini as an ambassador.

“The president has not announced the appointment of any ambassadors. The DA is on a fishing expedition.

“When the president has decided on appointments to the foreign service, he will announce them,” Diko said.

Earlier, DA MP Darren Bergman said the party was concerned that Ramaphosa had kept mum about the rumour.

Bergman said the DA wrote to the president last Friday requesting clarity on the issue.

This was a sequel to the parliamentary question the party asked International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor about the matter. The minister said Ramaphosa would announce new ambassadors at an appropriate time, and that she did not appoint them.

Bergman said the DA had been reliably informed there was intent to appoint Dlamini as an ambassador.

“This is cause for great concern, and it appears such positions are reserved for politicians found guilty of misconduct during their term of service in high executive office.”

The Constitutional Court found Dlamini had lied in the South African Social Security Agency grants saga. The court ordered her to pay part of the cost personally and Ramaphosa was criticised for not acting against her for breaching the executive ethics code.

Dlamini is an ardent follower of Jacob Zuma and an influential figure in the ANC as president of the ANC Women’s League. It’s believed that Ramaphosa wanted to avoid annoying the league, which did not support his presidential campaign.

Bergman cited the Constitutional Court’s “momentous” findings on Dlamini’s transgressions, saying: “The position of minister of social development she occupied at the time demanded a commitment to ethical behaviour and public service.

“Instead, she used her position to place herself between constitutionally enshrined rights and those entitled to them.

“Diplomats in the SA foreign service are required to advance SA interests and values, yet the Constitutional Court specifically found Dlamini’s conduct flew in the face of the very values that underpin our constitution.

“The DA believes Dlamini is not suited to hold the office of a diplomat.”

Minister Pandor’s spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele said they knew nothing about the appointment.

Others who rocked the boat

South Africa has had its fair share of controversial diplomats:

• Earlier this month, South Africa recalled its ambassador to The Netherlands, Bruce Koloane, after he confessed to the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture he had abused his powers to facilitate the 2013 landing of the Gupta’s aircraft at the high security Waterkloof air base in Tshwane. The air base is a National Key Point and only the president and foreign heads of state are authorised to use it. Pandor told parliament recently: “I have decided it would be in the public interest to transfer Koloane back to head office in Pretoria. A letter to this effect was sent to him on August 12. In terms of the provisions of the law, we allowed the ambassador the opportunity to make representations as to why he should not be transferred back.” Koloane resigned.
• Another controversial envoy was former journalist Jon Qwelane, SA commissioner to Uganda, who wrote a gay-bashing column for a Sunday newspaper in 2008. He was found guilty by a high court of hate speech and in 2017 ordered to make an unconditional apology to the gay community. His diplomatic posting was not renewed.
• In June, SA’s ambassador to Denmark, Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, issued a tweet that led to AfriForum and the Freedom Front Plus calling for her axing. She tweeted: “Dear Apartheid Apologists, your time is over. You will not rule again. We do not fear you. Finally #TheLandIsOurs.”

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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