Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube's reform efforts appear to be facing serious resistance from within her department – with her own officials reportedly trying to discredit her in front of ANC MPs.
On 27 March, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube did something highly unusual for a cabinet minister. he published an open letter In which he warned the public that his decision to bring in a special investigation unit to conduct a lifestyle audit was likely to cause trouble.
“In the coming days and weeks, you will see a concerted fight from those who stand to lose the most from this purge,” Gwarrube wrote.
He predicted the use of bot campaigns on social media, abuse of parliamentary procedures and fabricated media stories – all to discredit Gwarrub and his reform agenda.
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The tone of the open letter was both urgent and worrying.
“I urge your vigilance over the next few weeks,” Guarube concluded.
What he did not provide was any details about what exactly had inspired him to write this extraordinary public appeal.
After speaking to department insiders and enlisting the help of Murmur, a digital intelligence firm, Daily Maverick has assembled a picture of a DA minister at GNU who is allegedly being strategically and consistently undermined by some key departmental officials whose work the minister is supposed to do.
If these are allegations…