Don’t accredit ministers who can’t perform!

[Vincent]

From the Free Market Foundation

Don’t accredit ministers who can’t perform!

Our ‘super-efficient’ department of labour made a really daft claim that British Airways partner Comair’s kulula.com airline doesn’t hire crew who can’t swim. The department also ‘named and shamed’ Comair for not complying with the Employment Equity Act. Comair had repeatedly tried without success to submit its employment equity reports, rejects the allegation as “not only blatantly false but defamatory”, and has issued a letter of demand to withdraw it. Kulula “won’t be bullied by an inefficient and ineffective government department”. The Civil Aviation Authority mandates swimming and life-saving skills as safety requirements for cabin crew accreditation, so kulula trains successful applicants. It’s the only airline running such a swimming training programme for its cabin crew recruits, and already over half its staff are black. Does government train departmental staff and Cabinet ministers to do their jobs properly? Should minister of labour Membathisi Mdladlana and his crew receive training or should Mr Mbeki get a better minister? Let’s not accredit people who can’t perform.

We'll just reward the inefficient ministers and move them to another department

[Dave A]

Other than the ability to generate volumes of hot air, are there any other particular skills absolutely required of a government minister?

For anyone who has ever met our Minister of Labour, you'll know he is a real "Where there is a will, there is a way" kind of guy. Just what that "way" might happen to be and whether it is practical or even possible within cast iron constraints, however, is not his problem. If all else fails, singing old revolutionary songs will generally get you through somehow.