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Faith Muthambi dodges questions

Martin Czernowalow
By Martin Czernowalow, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 17 Sept 2014
Communications minister Faith Muthambi has chosen to dodge questions about being side-lined by the ANC.
Communications minister Faith Muthambi has chosen to dodge questions about being side-lined by the ANC.

Under-fire communications minister Faith Muthambi appears to be evading questions about being side-lined by her own party, and has backtracked on addressing questions about her increasingly tenuous position in Cabinet.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that several high-level decisions made by Muthambi, as well as her inability to communicate articulately in public, led to her being increasingly alienated from her colleagues in government. It has also been confirmed that minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe has taken over some of Muthambi's functions.

On Monday morning, Muthambi's spokesperson stated the minister would issue a statement in response to the allegations, but today explained the minister had changed her mind. "We will not be issuing a statement. The minister decided that it would be better not to respond to faceless people, making baseless allegations, says Bongiwe Gambu.

Instead, says Gambu, the Department of Communications (DOC) would engage with the media around what the ministry is doing on a broader basis within the sector. While the minister deflected questions on the basis that they were supposedly based on information supplied by sources within government, factual issues - such as whether she is directly influencing the country's broadcast digital migration policy - have also gone unanswered.

Stonewalling

Democratic Alliance shadow minister of communications Gavin Davis says Muthambi is stonewalling. "She is in a difficult position. Her stance reflects that she does not want to comment on the position she is being put in by the ANC. It is a place where she does not want to find herself and she probably does not want to comment."

Davis says Muthambi was specifically appointed by president Jacob Zuma to run government's propaganda machinery and that being a Zuma loyalist meant she was a good candidate to generate positive spin for the president. "However, she was found lacking even for this [function]," he says.

Muthambi's poor public speaking ability and nervousness in interviews have reportedly also not gone down well with her ANC colleagues, prompting Radebe to take over some of Muthambi's duties. Radebe has, since last month, been leading weekly press conferences on Cabinet meetings - a function previously fulfilled by Muthambi. He was also recently appointed chairperson of the inter-ministerial committee on information and publicity.

"That raises many questions about Muthambi and the move is basically a vote of no confidence from the ANC," says Davis. He adds that one of her biggest mistakes was the permanent appointment of controversial SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng. "This has certainly divided the SABC board and angered the ANC."

Davis also points out there is still no clarity about Muthambi's involvement in government's broadcast digital migration policy. Muthambi was blamed for causing the latest delay in SA's plans to implement digital migration by starting a turf war between the DOC and Siyabonga Cwele's Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services.

Cwele earlier this year announced the digital migration policy would be gazetted by the end of July, but it is understood Muthambi's insistence that her input be included meant the policy remains bogged down with Cabinet, with no new finalisation date having been announced.

Davis says he simply does not know which department is ultimately responsible for driving digital migration. "The Department of Public Service and Administration is currently finalising a memorandum of understanding regarding which functions fall under which department. Hopefully, that will give us some clarity."

Big mistake

ICT veteran Adrian Schofield - who has long been critical of Zuma's decision to split the communications ministry into two - says the current situation is a result of the reconfiguration of the old DOC.

"If a mistake is made, one should apologise and set things right. The mistake was to split the old DOC into two and put Faith Muthambi in charge of the new communications ministry. If we are all agreed, then let's put the two back together and put the propaganda machinery back with the Presidency - no one will care," says Schofield.

He adds it is critical that progress is made in areas vital to the ICT sector and the country as a whole, including digital migration, spectrum allocation, set-top box manufacturing and mobile interconnect fees.

"I would suggest they put back into Cwele's department what belongs there and that we get moving."

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