Nobuhle Nkabane’s rapid rise in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government took some of her comrades in KwaZulu-Natal by surprise. Not because she lacked political credentials – but because it all happened too quickly.
Nkabane was sent to parliament after the 2019 general elections and, two years later, she was appointed deputy to mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe. Last year, Ramaphosa promoted her to the prominent role of minister of higher education. In addition to being highly educated, with a PhD in administration from the University of KwaZulu-Natal – she has a decorated record of leading ANC structures before she was elected to the party's NEC in 2022.
Nkabane led the ANC Youth League from a young age in Mzimkhulu, until she became the league’s regional chairperson in the Harry Gwala region. This made her one of few women leaders in the youth league to achieve this feat.
When she graduated to the mother body, her star continued to rise. She was elected ANC regional treasurer , before being chosen to serve in the provincial executive committee in 2022. Party leaders who served with her speak glowingly of her leadership skills and bravery to raise issues she feels passionate about. But even they say she rose too quickly – jumping a long queue of senior leaders she found in party structures.
Nkabane is in hot water right now. There is growing pressure on Ramaphosa to take action against her. She is accused of having misled parliament by claiming she was advised by an independent panel who chose a list of ANC-connected individuals to chair a list of sector education and training authorities (SETAs) under her department.
Although she has withdrawn the names of the SETA chairs – on the instruction of the president – the scandal continues to haunt her. The supposed chair of the panel that made the selection, Adv Terry Motau, has distanced himself from the process – saying he never agreed to participate. It also turns out other members of the so-called independent panel are actually senior officials in the ministry, who report to Nkabane.
Down in KZN, her colleagues say the chickens are coming home to roost. There is no appetite from ANC structures – even from her own region – to come to her defence. Apparently since her rise to the top, Nkabane has isolated many of her allies. Leaders there accuse her of failing to “empower” those who were instrumental in her political growth once she was appointed to cabinet.
Nkabane was an outsider in the higher education sector when she was appointed minister last year, so not many academics will lobby for a “hands off Nkabane” campaign. It appears she hasn’t won over senior officials in her department, given the leaks that are coming out of that department. What makes matters worse is that her actions in the portfolio committee have alienated even members of her own party.
What could save Nkabane, though, is that her boss appears to have lost the energy he displayed in the early days of his tenure – when he dealt decisive with ministers who found themselves in the wrong.
Remember how Ramaphosa ordered former finance minister Malusi Gigaba to resign back in 2018? While Gigaba was surrounded by controversy, what led to his downfall was a finding that he lied under oath in a matter involving the approval of a VVIP terminal at the OR Tambo International Airport when he was home affairs minister. Even Zweli Mkhize’s resignation as health minister is believed to have come after an instruction from Ramaphosa following the 2019 scandal involving Covid-19 funds.
However, Ramaphosa seems to have misplaced his axe. His cabinet spokesperson, state security minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, is under investigation from the Hawks for alleged corruption during her time as municipal manager of Ba-Phalaborwa local municipality in Limpopo. The accusations are that Ntshavheni awarded a tender to a company that never submitted a tender bid. But Ramaphosa has kept her on his side.
Last year, the president merely reshuffled minister Thembi Simelane from the ministry of justice and constitutional development to human settlements, after accusations that she received a loan from a company that conducted business with the VBS Mutual Bank. This was after the Polokwane municipality – where Simelane was mayor – invested millions to the bank – which were later withdrawn. Simelane remains comfortably in her position in Ramaphosa’s government.
So what will happen to Nkabane? To Ramaphosa’s credit, he is the one who instructed Nkabane to withdraw the list of ANC connected comrades who were earmarked to serve as chairs of SETAs.
It was also his spokesman Vincent Magwenya who came out publicly to speak against Nkabane’s behaviour in parliament – which triggered a non-apology statement from her office. However, Nkabane has continued to dig herself into a deeper hole. She has become a liability in Ramaphosa’s government. In an ideal situation, the president would make a similar call to that he made to Gigaba.
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