Spokeswoman Lumka Oliphant not the only official to whip up a storm
Spin doctors and other such high-profile officials are meant to polish images or keep problems at bay, but some excel at making things worse
Official spokeswoman Lumka Oliphant had a lot of bottle in defending her boss‚ Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini‚ against reports that she appeared drunk at a government event. But Oliphant is not the first public official whose mouth has landed them in the drink. In 2012‚ when then government spokesman Mzwanele Manyi didn’t have his contract renewed‚ speculation was rife that the controversial views he expressed in public led to his undoing. The year before‚ Manyi was accused of being racist when he said there was an "oversupply" of coloureds in the Western Cape and Indians were overrepresented in management positions across the country. He also made headlines suggesting that government could withdraw advertising revenue from newspapers that did not toe the line. More recently‚ BDlive reported this week that Manyi condemned Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan for criticising Luther Lebelo‚ a senior SARS executive‚ for a newspaper letter attacking credit rating agencies and ...
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