By Loni Prinsloo and Renee Bonorchis
(Bloomberg) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended one of his top ministers for two months, including one unpaid, after she was photographed having lunch with a friend in violation of a national lockdown to contain the coronavirus.
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.
“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.
If prosecuted, she could face a fine of R1,500 ($82).
“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.
Full statement from The Presidency:
President censures Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams for lockdown lunch
President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on special leave for two months – one month of which will be unpaid.
As to allegations that the Minister violated the lockdown regulations, the law should take its course.
This follows the revelation on social media that the Minister had recently visited the home of a friend who hosted a lunch, contrary to the lockdown regulations.
The President summoned the Minister yesterday, Tuesday 07 April 2020. The President expressed his disapproval of the Minister’s actions, which undermine the requirement that all citizens stay at home and save South Africa from the spread of the coronavirus.
The President accepted the Minister’s apology for the violation but was unmoved by mitigating factors she tendered.
President Ramaphosa has placed the Minister on special leave for two months, during which Minister in The Presidency Jackson Mthembu will act in Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams’ position.
The President has reprimanded the Minister and directed her to deliver a public apology to the nation.
The President said: “The nation-wide lockdown calls for absolute compliance on the part of all South Africans. Members of the National Executive carry a special responsibility in setting an example to South Africans, who are having to make great sacrifices.
“None of us – not least a member of the National Executive – should undermine our national effort to save lives in this very serious situation. I am satisfied that Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams appreciates the seriousness of what she has done and that no-one is above the law.”
