Two members of the executive — Lindiwe Sisulu and Fikile Mbalula — are particularly useless in a very general kind of way. Thus, a powerful metaphor for a common problem.

The art they have perfected is to break something and move on. Their respective track records, for example, cut a stark contrast with someone like Angie Motshekga, who has been allowed to systematically break one thing — education — over a long period of time. No, for these two, it’s the depth and breadth of their incompetence that is impressive...