New ministers picking low hanging fruit to make themselves visible

When it comes to regime change or sharing power, there’s always a scramble to be visible. To be the most visible could be confused as a competitive sport. So, it should come as no surprise that we’re hearing a lot of noise that seems impressive. I’d even go as far as saying it’s necessary. Is it the endgame though? Let’s hope not.

Sports minister Gayton McKenzie put on his togs and released an existing list. What a champion. He didn’t even bother to copyedit it. Is it a good thing? Sure. Does the combination of that and defunding superfan Mama Joy justify his salary? No. I believe we can ask for some more substantial work. I’m sure it will come.

Public Works minister Dean Macpherson has also been making some sounds, identifying looting, hacking and some R300 million that was lost. I’m grateful that it’s been uncovered. Thank you. Now what? Do we cheer him now or when he gets the money back?

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When great leaders come into office, one of the first questions they should ask is what they can do to piggyback off the work of their predecessors. Fortunately for the new crop, their predecessors generally didn’t do much. Unfortunately for us, that means that just getting dressed in time makes them seem like they’re doing a good job – or at least a better job than those who came before.

Nobody should deride that. It’s a great start to have officials arrive at work on time. It’s wonderful to know that things are getting done and that the low hanging fruit isn’t rotting away. But what happens when the low hanging stuff is all picked? What happens when some elbow grease is needed and they actually have to start climbing the tree?

What we need to caution against is being satisfied with these little treats. We may have some more news to argue about but the only person benefitting from that is Elon Musk.

New Minister of Higher Education, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, came out announcing that she wants to prioritise fixing issues around student funding. Okay. Cool. Who wouldn’t?

It’s not like every minister gets a genie and three wishes. Basic education wants to fulfil the promise of last century to eradicate pit toilets at schools. Agreed. These are things that must happen. Goodness gracious, I hope this is not all we’re allowed to ask for.

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For now, we can give this team their time in the sun and let them pick at the low hanging fruit. It’s there for the picking anyway. Most haven’t even started doing that, so those who do deserve at least some praise for hitting the ground running.

But once the easy stuff is done and the announcements and grandstanding are over, who do we talk to about making petrol affordable again? How do we make the country safer for women? What’s the deal with increasing local production and exports?

There’s a tad more to running a country than we’re getting, even though what we’re getting seems to be more than what we got.

It’s a move in the right direction, but not quite there yet.

Let’s take what we get now and remember that there’s more to come. At least I hope so. It’s pretty exhausting waiting on dud leadership, and though this new crop seems to be making the right noises, we’ve been bamboozled by illusionists before.

If you’re wanting to watch the high hanging fruit that is being picked, check the muscles on the SIU and NPA. They’re chomping at that VBS fructose. Who would have thought that a looted bank had so much more to give?

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