Health ad just latest indication that minister should be fired media statement by Bantu Holomisa, MP - UDM President (21 September 2007)
The Minister must have known about, and probably initiated, this wastage of taxpayer money: that alone should be grounds enough for President Mbeki to do what he should've done long ago, which is to remove the Minister from office.
This whole saga has become an embarrassing taint upon our democratic life. The Minister's actions have been the cause of poor service delivery by the Executive, made a mockery of the Legislative pillar of the democratic state after the recent farcical incident in Parliament, and now the Judicial pillar of our state is being attacked in the media with taxpayer money.
It is outrageous for a Minister and her senior official to use taxpayer money to publicly attack the judiciary. It has become a habit for senior members of the Tripartite Alliance to attack the media and judiciary whenever court rulings go against them. A dangerous precedent has been set that respect for the independence of the judiciary is not required.
It is especially galling that the Minister has not shown the political maturity and sense of accountability to admit of her own free will that she has been guilty of theft and unseemly behaviour. It simply demonstrates that she should not be entrusted with a senior government position.
We call upon President Mbeki to immediately remove the Minister and her DG from their posts; they are both woefully ill-equipped for the job of looking after the media's health.
