Stooping with style…

Our Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, is a man of undeniable style and refinement. He is a class act who could be Head of State himself if only we could afford to remove him from the finance portfolio. But we can't. He is without a doubt the most effective Minister of Finance in the history of South Africa and a man who has redefined the relationship between the Receiver of Revenue and the taxpayers of our land by inventing an environment where the tax collection process is no longer primarily associated with cohesion and threats.

Even though he has come out in support of Mbeki’s GEAR policy, our Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, is a man I distinguish from the band of unscrupulous yes-men in Thabo Mbeki’s cabinet because he has remained his own man. He has never been drawn into the squabbles and childish banter that has been brewing under the surface amongst some in the ANC leadership for years. He is not a loose cannon who shoots from the hip. No, Trevor picks his target, aims well and make sure his grip is secure and his hand steady before he squeezes the trigger – the way any good marksman does.

One of the cock sure Shaik brothers, Mo, not having noticed that their former best friend Jacob Zuma's attitude towards The Family Shaik has cooled off substantially since their brother’s trial and conviction on charges of corruption and bribery, got way ahead of himself and had his tail feathers publicly plucked after suggesting in an interview with Mail & Guardian earlier that there would be “a role” for Manuel in a Zuma government. As if Mo Shaik of all people would know anything about, let alone have any say ever in the league of men such as Trevor Manuel!! Even Zuma, when he enters this league, will do so only by virtue of his populist appeal to the masses and Thabo Mbeki's sheer stupidity.

I remember being irritated when I read the M&G interview by the absolute presumptuousness behind Mo Shaik’s arrogance and thinking that maybe the Shaiks should familiarize themselves with the story of Prince Hal in Shakespeare’s Henry IV parts 1 and 2 in which all the low life drinking buds got left out in the cold when the irresponsible prince assumed his royal duties and became a paragon of leadership and virtue. Okay, admittedly hoping the latter about Zuma is quite a stretch, but we nevertheless can hope at least that most of Zuma’s mates will be left on the street side of the Tuynhuys gates if Zuma ascends the throne. I am really not sure what to expect and remain hopeful that Zuma may still surprise all of us, but one thing I am quite sure of is that the Shaiks will not be lunching at Libertas after 2009.

I abhor this trend of opportunistic hangers-on and the pattern of not quite proper personal patronage that has reared its seven ugly heads in our party’s upper echelons whereby undue influence and undeserved benefit, along with the right to act like presumptuous pigs, are bestowed upon certain individuals solely by virtue of them being pals with the powers that be. Therefore I felt superbly satisfied and vindicated by the Who-the-hell-are-you response Bra Mo got from His Honorable, our Minister of Finance, in an open letter published in The Sunday Times of December 9, 2007 (even if it did signify that Trevor may finally have succumbed and stooped in his own unique way to join the war between the henchmen of the Two Big Polokwane Candidates):

Dear Mo,
I observe from the comments you made in an interview… that you said of me: “I see a great role for him. It would be great to have Manuel stay on as finance minister but the challenge is this: when you have been part of the macro-economic stabilization programme, do you have the right mind-set for a period of heightened implementation? Would he have the flexibility of mind?”

I suppose that it is incumbent upon me now to say, “Thank you for the mention, bwana”. But, of course, I will not.

Trevor writes that he has the ANC in his whole being and continues …Being elected to serve as part of the collective of its National Executive Committee since 1991 has been a tremendous opportunity for learning and for my political development. And the joy of being called by its two successive Presidents, Mandela and Mbeki, to serve as South Africa’s finance minister is unsurpassed.

The emphasis, Mo, is on service. Service to my country and people becomes an act of love – it is clearly not a job, nor could it ever be an undertaking for notional power or the salary. And yes, the assignment as finance minister is one that I draw great pleasure from.

But be assured that the opportunity I speak of is not something I will grovel for, nor do I ever wish to be beholden.

So, I observe that I might not have the qualities of flexibility that you are looking for – I am sorry that I fail you so. I also see that you see a great role for me – that is wonderful.

But who asked you? You would know that your comments are exceedingly arrogant and gratuitous – but how do you claim this right?

I was so struck by the force of your attitude, I thought that I had missed a trick. I then checked the published list of nominees to the National Executive Committee – your name should have been in position 139, between Shabangu and Shiceka

(the list is alphabetical, this is the position where Mo would have been had he been nominated at all) – but it was not there. So what is the source of your raw power?

Your conduct is certainly not something in the tradition of the African National Congress. It is obvious that you have no intention of becoming part of any elected collective within the organization, yet you arrogate to yourself the role of determinant.

…My plea to you is simple. It has taken 96 years of the most unimaginable toil and sacrifice to build the ANC into this formidable movement. It could be destroyed in five days at Polokwane – don’t do it!

The ethos of the ANC over all its life has been Umfutho Kubantu, a movement of the people at its service. You have no right to turn this organization into something that serves your ego. The task of building a deep and durable democracy that impacts on the lives of all South Africans is incomplete; do not destroy the only vehicle capable of delivering that democracy.

Trevor Manuel

You just gotta love our Trevor, even when he stoops, he does so with undeniable style and uncompromising class.

Greetings from the fray

Krokodil

(Picture left: Mo Shaik - photo: Shayne Robinson)

(Picture right: Trevor Manuel)