Has the day of reckoning come for South Africa’s cabinet? South Africa’s police minister Bheki Cele has made it clear he will not resign after EFF leader Julius Malema said he should be axed over the July unrest that rocked South Africa.
The said unrest had led to the burning and looting of many businesses across the Rainbow Nation.
A panel inquiry into the chaos of July found that the cabinet is to be held responsible for the violence that shook the Rainbow Nation almost to its foundation. The report noted that the government failed to prevent and manage the unrest during which millions of rand worth of goods were either looted or vanished in rioters’ flames.
On the strength of the panel’s verdict, Malema insists that Bheki Cele should resign – a way of taking responsibility as a member of the cabinet.
Reacting to Malema’s call, though, Bheki Cele, while affirming his membership of Ramaphosa’s cabinet, noted that the president is the head of the cabinet and he, the police minister, will only follow Ramaphosa’s directive.
So, unless President Cyril Ramaphosa should axe him, he would remain at his post, policing the nation – and smashing bottles of alcohol, of course.
