Apology: Sisulu defies president

• Minister fires back after Ramaphosa’s office says she is sorry for stinging remarks on judges

Tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu has distanced herself from a statement from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office saying she had apologised for her stinging remarks on the judiciary, according to her spokesperson.

Steven Motale confirmed a short statement distributed on social media in which Sisulu said she “categorically disown[s]” the president’s statement as “a misrepresentation” of the outcome of a meeting she held with him earlier this week.

“Under no circumstances did I commit to any retraction or apology since I stand by what I penned. The content of the president’s statement in its current form is unfortunate as it is not what we agreed on,” Sisulu’s statement read.

Her defiant stand came hours after Ramaphosa said he had castigated her over an opinion article that appeared in Independent Media publications earlier in January in which she described black judges as “mentally colonised”, drawing sharp criticism from civil society, politicians and the country’s top judge, acting chief justice Raymond Zondo, who came out in defence of the third branch of government in a rare moment of censure of a politician outside a court judgment.

“The president specifically admonished the minister about her attack on the judiciary,” according to a statement from his office late on Thursday, quoting from the article where she aimed particular fire at black judges whose “lack of confidence ... permeates their rulings against their own”.

The president’s office said the discussion resulted in an apology from Sisulu.

Analysts had said the article has positioned her as a de facto leader of the so-called radical economic transformation faction linked to former president Jacob Zuma, which may seek to unseat Ramaphosa at the party’s leadership contest in December.

The statement from the presidency said Sisulu conceded that her words were inappropriate and that she “retracts this statement and affirms her support for the judiciary”.

Sisulu is quoted as saying in

the earlier statement: “I accept that my column has levelled against the judiciary and African judges in particular unsubstantiated, gratuitous and deeply hurtful comments.

“I retract unequivocally my hurtful comments. I recognise that many women and men judges past and present have served their country in the judiciary with dedication and patriotism and some have made sterling sacrifices in the fight against apartheid and colonialism. I apologise for and regret the hurt I have caused the judiciary.”

But Sisulu, who has been an MP since the end of apartheid and held several ministerial portfolios and is seen as a direct challenger to Ramaphosa, said the president “proposed an intermediary” to focus on one line about judges.

Justice minister Ronald Lamola wrote a reply at the weekend, while minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele distanced the government from Sisulu’s views.

The drama unfolds during the year in which the ANC is heading to its elective conference after four years of Ramaphosa’s leadership of the party, which suffered its worst electoral performance since the end of

apartheid in local government elections in 2021.

That performance has raised alarm that the party might lose absolute power in national polls due in 2024, a worry that may strengthen Ramaphosa’s opponents to push for his removal.

BUT SISULU SAID THE PRESIDENT ‘PROPOSED AN INTERMEDIARY’ TO FOCUS ON ONE LINE ABOUT JUDGES