FSTDT Forums
Community => Politics and Government => Topic started by: Ultimate Paragon on August 05, 2014, 12:11:05 pm
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/jacob-zuma-nepotism-giving-daughter-ministry-position (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/jacob-zuma-nepotism-giving-daughter-ministry-position)
Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, is facing accusations of nepotism after his daughter was appointed to a senior position in a government ministry at the age of 25.
Thuthukile Zuma was named chief of staff in the department of telecommunications and postal services, making her the youngest head of a minister's office. The post earns almost 1m rand (£55,764) a year and was apparently not publicly advertised, South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper reported.
The row comes with the president, a Zulu traditionalist with four wives and 21 children, still trying to shrug off a scandal over the spending of taxpayer millions on upgrades at his family homestead. Zuma's governing African National Congress (ANC), re-elected in May, has long been dogged by allegations of patronage and cronyism.
The rapid ascent of his daughter – in a country where figures released last month showed youth unemployment at 36% – provoked a backlash on Twitter. One user posted: "I am 25 & I hold more qualifications & experience than Thuthukile Zuma (25) but then again, my father is just an ordinary man not President."
Another wrote: "Thuthukile Zuma's appointment makes me so damn angry. not saying you cant be 25 and successful , but can you work for it. #zumakeepswinning."
Opposition parties are demanding an explanation. The Democratic Alliance (DA) plans to submit written questions to telecommunications minister Siyabonga Cwele by the end of the week, asking what criteria were used in the selection process.
Given past examples of Zuma's extended family benefiting from his influence, "it is not difficult to understand why people are making such inferences", national spokesperson Marius Redelinghuys said. "There is definitely a broader context that leads one to that interpretation. The ANC today is a party of insiders and outsiders. Those in the inner circle continue to benefit and enrich themselves, while those on the outside continue to languish in poverty and inequality."
Thuthukile is not the first Zuma to face such scrutiny. An investigation last week by South Africa's City Press newspaper, headlined "Jacob Zuma's family empire", claimed that his relatives "have also scored contracts in the oil, gold, cigarette, diamond, airline and retail industries in the five years since he first took office".
Five Zumas are on the board or hold executive positions of a group of companies under the name Isthebe, the paper reported. The president's eldest son, Edward, joined a range of companies after his father's election and was at one stage involved in 34, it said. Two of Zuma's daughters, Gugulethu and Nokuthula, have gone into acting and appeared together in a TV sitcom, but even this became controversial when the president's Twitter account promoted the show.
Nelson Mandela is spinning in his grave.
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Didn't they cremate him?
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You should hear the excuses the ANC has nowadays for the corrupt postings they make.
The Chairperson of the parastatal companies like the SABC, Eskom and Telkom are often given to cronies and supporters where they perform abysmally before quitting with an huge golden handshake. Well to justify the latest person put into those positions as well as Zuma's daughter, they say (and I really wish I was making this up) "educated people who have gone to university have failed so clearly the answer is someone who is not so educated." This was specifically about the newest head of the SABC, who lied about even passing high school on his CV. He has of course gotten the job doubled his salary and is being protected by the ANC with excuses like the one mentioned above.
If I remember correctly one of the justifications for Zuma's daughter who is a recent art graduate for getting the position is that chiefs of staff come from a verity of portfolio's and need diversity. In short, its depressing and sick how corrupt the South African government is. Worst of all I live here.
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Didn't they cremate him?
No, he got re-elected as the president last may. http://news.iafrica.com/sa/939859.html
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Didn't they cremate him?
No, he got re-elected as the president last may. http://news.iafrica.com/sa/939859.html
He was meaning Nelson, not Zuma, I believe.
And Nelson wasn't cremated from what I remember.
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Didn't they cremate him?
No, he got re-elected as the president last may. http://news.iafrica.com/sa/939859.html
He was meaning Nelson, not Zuma, I believe.
And Nelson wasn't cremated from what I remember.
(http://boards.deniableplausibility.net/i/v/image/1399/57/1399575989432.jpg)
(I really should have added *badump-tish* to my message.)
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Didn't they cremate him?
Each individual ash particle is rotating in its urn.