Ministers’ fight puts us in backseat

While government ministers’ bicker over who is more “important”, a bereft family sits in their Soweto home, wondering why their son, Katlego Bereng, was burnt in serial rapist and killer Thabo Bester’s cell.

“I read on the news the police say now we know the truth we can now get closure. They have just opened a fresh wound and it’s bleeding,” said Bereng’s father, Batho Mpholo.

“We need the truth and the government to take responsibility for this. That is when we are going to heal.”

However, if there is one thing our ministers are adept at, it is avoiding responsibility.

It is votes ministers are after, showing up at each disaster to show a “caring” face.

ALSO READ: Katlego Bereng: Father of man whose burnt body was found in Thabo Bester’s cell wants answers

Current minister of condolences, Bheki Cele, is probably deciding whether to visit Mpholo’s home to publicly declare his anger/distress/something or other. The Thabo Bester saga suggests he has much to learn, as do other ministers who crave power.

Take our three ministers tasked with ensuring electricity reaches homes and industry fighting over territory, which President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied.

It’s simple: Mineral, Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe is responsible for ensuring Eskom has electricity, Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is responsible for making sure it arrives at our homes and factories, while Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan’s role is to – well, whatever he does is not working.

A fight over territory shows just where we rank in their priorities.

NOW READ: ‘No conflict between Ramokgopa, Mantashe and Gordhan’ – Ramaphosa