Our ministers should be experts in their fields

THE deployment of ANC cadres to senior government positions is a contentious issue and it is flawed.

This came up at the commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture.

I understand that a majority party will have higher representation in Parliament.

Having a higher representation is one thing but fielding candidates without important portfolios is another thing.

Since democracy, the ANC has seen white, Indian and coloured political representatives dwindle and with it a wealth of governing experience.

It made mistakes by deploying inexperienced personnel to key government positions just because they sacrificed their lives as underground operatives and lived in exile.

Some of these people were entrenched in corruption and have looted the state coffers.

For years, some government representatives who did not perform well at home were dispatched abroad as South African ambassadors.

Perhaps they were better suited to hosting weekly embassy parties.

Our ministers should be experts in their fields.

They should have obtained credible degrees from South African universities, complemented by PhD and MBA degrees, and not from overseas and online institutions.

They should be intellectual scholars with a vision and unparalleled powers of perceptions.

They should be able to hold their own in public space, especially when speaking.

Transparency, accountability and unbiased opinion are what we need.

Maybe there’s truth when George Bernard Shaw, Irish critic and political activist, said: “There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it ..."

KEVIN GOVENDER

Shallcross