Mashatile: Ministers who fail must go

DEPUTY President Paul Mashatile has issued a stern warning against political interference and incompetence within government ranks, asserting that ministers and their deputies who fail to perform should be removed from office.

Speaking at a high-level roundtable discussion on strengthening the political-administrative interface on Friday, Mashatile emphasised the urgent need to restore good governance across all spheres of government.

The session was attended by ministers, deputy ministers, premiers, and director-generals.

This was to address the political interference in government and ensure that all spheres of government had good governance.

“Many challenges that the government is dealing with are also a result of relationships where ministers or political leaders are not pulling together.

“That’s why we have a high turnover of director-generals leaving government because of political interference, while political leaders would complain about the DGs not implementing policy directives,” Mashatile said.

Mashatile stressed that one of their priorities was to build a capable, ethical and developmental state.

“The only way we can do that is to ensure that the political and administrative leadership pulls together,” he added.

This comes after concerns were raised about how political leaders could influence the government’s decisions to only benefit them or those close to them.

This is happening from the national government to the local government. This is also where tenders are awarded to people without proper procedures.

Responding to this, Mashatile emphasised that leaders who do not understand their responsibilities should be out of office.

“Before ministers go into their departments, we discuss everything in cabinet. So when they go to their departments, they understand fully what the policies and priorities are so that they can be able to give policy directives to those who must implement them.

“Otherwise, if they do not understand, then they should be in those jobs,” he said.