Former minister of energy Tina Joemat-Pettersson. Picture: Gallo Images / Beeld / Denvor de Wee)
She has been described as energetic, passionate and hard-working. But behind the impressive struggle legacy of the Kimberly-born, youthful-looking anti-apartheid activist Tina Joemat-Pettersson, who this week died at the age of 59, has been her continued battle to shake off a blot of being perceived as corrupt.
Serving as cabinet minister during the Jacob Zuma presidency, Joemat-Pettersson found herself – like many of her ANC-deployed comrades – embroiled in questionable multi-billion-rand state deals, bordering on graft and state capture.
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The last straw was revelations of a string of WhatsApp messages, shared with the Hawks, which have led to suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s husband David Skosana, opening a criminal case of extortion against Committee for Section 194 chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi, Joemat-Pettersson and ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina.
While she called on police to investigate the allegations, it is Joemat-Pettersson’s past – while serving in the Zuma administration – which continued to haunt her until her death.
“The digital footprint is that of being corrupt and I want to clean my name. I have no life and no future,” a depressed Joemat-Pettersson poured her heart out during an interview with Radio 702, believed to be her last before her death.
‘The digital footprint is that of being corrupt and I want to clean my name. I have no life and no future,’ said Joemat-Pettersson in an interview believed to be her last before her death.
Former ANC MP and political analyst Melanie Verwoerd, has disagreed with a public speculation that Joemat-Pettersson committed suicide.
Said Verwoerd: “I remember Tina as a warm, hard-working person with a lot of joy – full of life.
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“As far as I know, Tina has been sick for a long time – suffering from cancer. Her passing, surely has nothing to do with any of the accusations levelled against her – having been unwell for a long time before she died.
“Her ill-health might have been aggravated.”
Among highlights of her illustrious political career, Joemat-Pettersson became a:
Having attended William Pescod High School, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Executive Management in Education, from the University of Cape Town.
She later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and History; and a Higher Diploma in Education from the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
She worked as a teacher before becoming active in politics.
Said independent political analyst Sandile Swana: “Tina Joemat-Pettersson’s background is impressive for a person of her age – a student at UWC in the mid-1980s and part of Azaso, which later became Sansco (SA National Students’ Congress) after a transition from the Black Consciousness to the Charterist perspective.
“Before the ANC Polokwane conference, she progressed very well in the educational sector structures of the ANC.
“She rose through the ranks until becoming an MEC in the Northern Cape.
“She sacrificed her conscience of being a revolutionary while serving as a cabinet minister during the Zuma-Cyril Ramaphosa presidency – having been embroiled in scandals, something which overshadowed all her good work before the Polokwane conference.
“She became someone with a moral flexibility – now dying under a cloud.”
In her book Permitted Plundering, author Ilse Salzwedel, wrote: “Joemat-Pettersson acted with little regard for the public purse”, with former public protector Professor Thuli Madonsela having noted in her 2012 report: “She displayed a blank cheque attitude towards public funds.”
A chronicle of scandals involving Joemat-Pettersson have included:
Despite being implicated in a litany of financial scandals, involving billions in taxpayers’ money, Joemat-Pettersson has earned praise from the ANC leadership.
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Said Ramaphosa: “We have lost a remarkable leader who dedicated herself to improving the quality of life in her home province of the Northern Cape in the early years of our democracy – before assuming national responsibilities in key portfolios.
“We will miss the passion and vigour with which she fought for a better South Africa – from the rural villages of the Northern Cape to the benches of Parliament and international platforms.”
Said Majodina: “Comrade Tina served the people of South Africa in Parliament and government for several terms in various positions.
“She was a proud product of the people of her province, the Northern Cape, whom she held in high esteem. Congress of the People national spokesperson Dennis Bloem described her passing as “a huge loss, not only to her family but to the Northern Cape and the entire country.”
-brians@citizen.co.za
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