Does Malusi Gigaba’s private life affect his ability to lead the Treasury?
South Africans may pay little attention to the personal lives of politicians‚ but the international community is less forgiving. This is the view of political analyst Ralph Mathekga‚ who was responding to questions on whether the latest storm‚ fuelled by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s alleged former mistress Buhle Mkhize‚ could damage his political career. "These things don’t matter to South Africans.... Our society doesn’t give prominence to such. People are used to it and it doesn’t stay in the headlines for too long‚" said Mathekga. "Internationally‚ they do matter. Western media does give prominence to such things. When President Jacob Zuma was in Davos‚ he was asked about his four wives and this had nothing to do with the presidency or the economy‚" said Mathekga. But Prof Steven Friedman holds a different view. "I can’t think of a case in SA where a politician’s career ended because of something like this‚" Friedman said. "Such things really don’t matter. We saw that with an...
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