What the scores mean :

A : Take a bow. You're doing an excellent job

B : Good, but room for improvement

C : You're OK, but that's all we can say for you

D : Get your act together

E : Do yourself and the country a favour : resign

F : You're fired

Mosiuoa Lekota

Minister of Defence

Grade : D+

One of the Cabinet’s more likeable members, Lekota could not be described as insubstantial. But he has never seemed quite the same person since the death of his daughter and his humiliating removal as premier of the Free State.

His rehabilitation as defence minister in 1999 meant he inherited the mess left by Joe Modise, including the ruinous arms deal. This latter, which plundered the defence budget to support the ambitions of the Department of Trade and Industry, resulted in the purchase of high-tech weapons South Africa does not need and cannot afford to run, and the provision of a “retirement fund” for Honest Joe.

In 2002 Lekota has seemed disengaged from his portfolio, distracted by ANC duties. The minister, who earlier this year spoke about challenging Jacob Zuma for the ANC deputy presidency, retained his position as ANC chairperson despite far from unanimous support for him in the party.

Meanwhile, one seasoned military observer describes the defence department as “a shambles", adding : “The most hopeful thing we can say is that the problems may be bottoming out." There are feelings that he would do well to fire defence secretary January Masilela.

Morale and discipline are said to be at a low ebb, with the department struggling to manage the posting of peace-keeping troops to the Congo. Scheduled for November, deployment is unlikely to take place before March next year.

In Parliament, Lekota provided an unconvincing rebuttal of startling reports on the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) lack of combat-readiness and elderly and sickly personnel. He dismissed (probably exaggerated) reports of 60% HIV levels among troops, but later admitted no proper study had been done and that he was guessing.

The arrival of the military’s expensive new toys over the next year will delay the restructuring of the force. On his 2002 performance, Lekota is not the man to lead it away from the mythical and costly vision of the SANDF as designed for conventional warfare, towards a simpler, more efficient, better-resourced force, capable of fulfilling regional peace-keeping and domestic security roles.

Jacob Zuma

Deputy President

Grade : E

The term “presidential" has often been used to describe the deportment of the country’s number- two citizen.

He was prepared to say all the right things about HIV/Aids at a time when many in the ANC’s upper echelons felt bound by the need to echo Mbeki’s denialist utterances.

As the main driver of the Moral Regeneration campaign, he made the right noises about the need to reverse South Africa’s culture of impunity and instil ethical mores among citizens. On the continent, he was diligently stitching together the Burundi peace accord.

Within the ANC, he was credited with ensuring that the tripartite alliance did not fall apart by insisting that the expression of views was tolerated and acting as a bridge between bickering factions. In KwaZulu-Natal, his traditionalist demeanour and political aptitude earned him respect across the board and he was therefore able to keep the fragile détente between the ANC and the IFP in place.

In the cold political climate of a post-Madiba South Africa, Zuma was the antidote to Mbeki’s aloof leadership style.

This year Zuma maintained his stature. His single most remarkable achievement has been his work in the Burundi negotiations, which are now in their very final stages. Getting the Hutu and Tutsi factions and sub-factions, and even the splinters of these sub-factions, to agree to end a 10-year war is no mean feat - even more so considering that the scars of previous genocides are still very fresh.

Unfortunately his leadership on HIV/Aids had to be reduced when it was decided in April that the government’s message on the disease would be coordinated in such a way that nobody could upstage the president.

Without this visible presence, Zuma’s role has been curtailed : his chairmanship of the South African National Aids Council (Sanac) has been little more than symbolic. With his time taken up by myriad other issues, he has not been on top of HIV/Aids debates and he seems to take his cue from our out-to-lunch health minister. This has resulted in the sidelining of critical Aids NGOs and the neutering of Sanac, a body that should be at the forefront of our efforts to combat the disease.

Notwithstanding his administrative weaknesses - a factor that has been counterbalanced by the strong team he assembled around him - Zuma was headed for a high-mark year.

Until October ... when this newspaper revealed that the Scorpions were investigating him in connection with a bribe he allegedly tried to secure from a French arms company in return for protecting it from South African law enforcement agencies. His innocence or guilt in relation to these allegations will be determined by a court of law - if the case ever gets there.

It is his response to the allegations that has cast an even darker cloud over him and pushed to the back of the mind all the admirable work he has done this year - surely not the effect which he and his advisers had hoped for.

His conduct since the story broke has revealed that deep inside the gregarious father figure lives another, less admirable person. His granting of selective interviews in which he has spoken vaguely (yet elaborately) of a dark conspiracy against him (by whom we don’t know) gives the impression he is trying to perfume his image.

Although he has steadfastly denied the allegations of corruption, there are still crucial questions which the nation deserves to have answered.

He has also defended his relationship with Schabir Shaik, a man who is on trial for illegal possession of Cabinet documents. Zuma, who is supposed to protect the integrity of the Cabinet, finds nothing wrong with taking this man on an official government jet.

If Zuma were a soldier, he would be charged with conduct unbecoming.

Luckily, he is just a politician.                       

Jeff Radebe

Minister of Public Enterprises

Grade : C-

Battered, beleaguered and bruised is how Radebe appears at times. Or maybe just trying his best in wrestling with one of the most technically complex and politically sensitive ministries.

One commentator dismissed him as having “done nothing". Last year, the national Treasury expected R18-billion from privatisation proceeds; only R2,3-billion materialised.

This financial year, the Treasury expects R12-billion, and Radebe hopes to meet this via a renewed focus on small and large high-profile deals.

On the plus side, the sale of a 30% stake in Denel to BAE Systems was approved. Also, a consortium led by Spoornet signed a 15-year, $78-million concession agreement to manage, operate and rehabilitate the Ressano Garcia railway line from Komatipoort to Maputo. And the sale of government’s stake in cellphone company MTN was deftly handled.

More importantly, the two biggest money-spinning privatisation projects - the listing of Telkom and the partial privatisation of Eskom - have recently witnessed encouraging progress. Radebe has bitten the bullet and announced plans to list Telkom amid depressing global sentiment and ahead of the introduction of competition in the telecommunications sector.

The release in December of a regulatory framework to govern tariff increases on electricity is the strongest indicator of the government’s commitment to phased liberalisation of the power generation market.

However, experts are warning about the wisdom of some envisaged details, such as a foreign partner for Eskom, given that Eskom is a success as a state-owned enterprise. Labour has warned that privatisation will simply lead to higher tariffs for the poor.

The pitfalls that marred telecommunications privatisation should be heeded - there must be policy clarity ahead of privatisation of the electricity utility.

Policy vagueness also dogs the process of port “concessioning”, and means that the process will be high-risk and fraught with disputes with labour.

Radebe’s most unfortunate setback has to be the derailment of the sale of the state’s largest forestry assets - the R335-million Komatiland forests in Mpumalanga and Limpopo - after bribery claims sullied the bid process.

But he deserves credit for encouraging officials to grasp the nettle of dealing with corruption, both in the case of public enterprises chief director Andile Nkuhlu and in that of Spoornet CEO Zandile Jakavula.

In short, he’s trying hard, but he could do better.

With acknowledgement to the Mail & Guardian.