Johannesburg - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended one of his top ministers for two months, including one unpaid for violatin...
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Johannesburg - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended one of his top ministers for two months, including one unpaid for violating the national lockdown.
Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams was summoned to explain herself on Tuesday after Mduduzi Manana, a former deputy minister, posted a picture of the pair dining together with his family on social media.
South Africans have been ordered to stay home for three weeks with few exceptions, such as buying food or medicine. Security forces have descended heavily on culprits found to be violating the embargo, while liquor outlets have been raided for contravening the order. .
“Members of the National Executive carry a special responsibility in setting an example to South Africans, who are having to make great sacrifices,” Ramaphosa said in a statement. “None of us should undermine our national effort to save lives.”
South Africa’s police and army have been charged with enforcing the rules of the lockdown, which has been punctuated by arrests and allegations of violence by authorities. Whether Ndabeni-Abrahams should be charged with a crime is a matter for the law, the Presidency said.
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| The Image that Put South African Minister in Hot Soup |
“I regret the incident and I am deeply sorry for my actions,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said. “I hope the President and South Africans will find it in their hearts to forgive me.”
The minister’s violation comes after New Zealand Health Minister David Clark was demoted for driving his family to the beach for a walk, in violation of that country’s anti-virus measures.
Scotland’s chief medical officer resigned on Sunday after traveling to her second home outside Edinburgh, the capital.
Manana had said Tuesday that Ndabeni-Abrahams was at his home to pick up medical equipment. The minister also shared unspecified mitigating factors with Ramaphosa, according to the Presidency, but they fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, a statement from the National Prosecuting Authority said Ndabeni-Abrahams had paid an admission of guilt fine of 1,000 rand ($53) for failing to confine herself to her home.
She has also been summoned to appear before a court next month. Ndabeni-Abrahams was in the news for all the wrong reasons, when she embarrassed herself on live television.
Manana had said Tuesday that Ndabeni-Abrahams was at his home to pick up medical equipment. The minister also shared unspecified mitigating factors with Ramaphosa, according to the Presidency, but they fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, a statement from the National Prosecuting Authority said Ndabeni-Abrahams had paid an admission of guilt fine of 1,000 rand ($53) for failing to confine herself to her home.
She has also been summoned to appear before a court next month. Ndabeni-Abrahams was in the news for all the wrong reasons, when she embarrassed herself on live television.
While trying to defend herself from allegations that she had used state funds to finance her anniversary celebrations by taking her husband, to Switzerland and the United States.
She claimed that she had never visited Switzerland and insisted that she had only gone to Geneva. - Online Sources
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