Manyi takes over as top govt spokesperson

Controversial labour department Director General Jimmy Manyi will replace top government spokesperson Themba Maseko.  The shock announcement was made late on Wednesday afternoon by the Presidency. "Mr Themba Maseko will join the Department of Public Service and Administration as director general from the Government Communication and Information System [GCIS] and Cabinet spokesperson. "Mr Jimmy Manyi, who is currently the Director General of the department of labour, will take over from Mr Themba Maseko as chief executive officer of GCIS and Cabinet spokesperson with immediate effect."

The announcement followed an intense meeting behind closed doors between Maseko and Minister for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Collins Chabane. News that Maseko was due to be moved was first heard on eNews and Twitter and confirmed by the Mail & Guardian via sources in the Presidency.

The move was misinterpreted at first as Maseko being axed, which came as a surprise as the head of GCIS was considered largely competent in the job. Manyi, on the other hand, has been dogged by controversy given his dual role as head of the Black Management Forum (BMF) and labour DG. He was suspended by then-labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana in June 2010 after a fraught relationship between the two.

Before Mdladlana was axed from the position in President Jacob Zuma's October 2010 Cabinet reshuffle, he indicated that Manyi, who was receiving full pay following his suspension, would leave. However, Manyi seems to have fought his suspension and successfully negotiated being moved to an equally powerful position as top government spokesperson. But the Presidency maintained that the move was initiated by Maseko, saying: "Maseko requested to be moved within government following his four-year tenure in GCIS and Cabinet spokesperson." 

Maseko was appointed into the position on June 14 2006 under then-minister in the presidency Essop Pahad. He was also a top communications official under Thabo Mbeki, and one of the last people from that era still in the Presidency.

Manyi was suspended as DG of labour in June 2010 due to a conflict of interest with Mdladlana. Mdladlana was reported to have told Manyi, who regularly made the headlines thanks to his controversial statements as BMF head, to choose between the two. In September 2010 former BMF leaders called for his resignation as president, accusing him of eroding BMF values and being unfit to lead the forum. 

Source: Mail & Guardian