Faith Muthambi sent Phumla Williams a series of hostile letters, inquiry hears
The minister threw her weight around, issued unlawful instructions and demoted Williams, but asked her to do the same work as before
Acting government spokeswoman Phumla Williams has told the state capture inquiry about a strained relationship she had with former communications minister Faith Muthambi. Muthambi was appointed communications minister by former president Jacob Zuma in 2014. She has been a staunch supporter of Zuma’s, and has still recently supported him in court as he faces graft charges. Muthambi was also implicated in the tranche of leaked Gupta emails which showed she had shared confidential cabinet information with the controversial family.
Williams told the commission about hostile letters Muthambi sent her. In one of the letters, Muthambi insisted Williams address her as “honourable minister”, after Williams had referred to her as “minister Muthambi”. Williams also alleged that Muthambi wanted her to do something “unlawful” by moving someone into the department without following proper procedure. Eventually Muthambi demoted Williams, who at the time was acting GCIS director-general, afte...
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