The very first thing to do is acknowledge that the Ministry of Environment and Tourism’s books of accounts are a mess – or “hot mess” because Mephato Reatile, the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee introduced slang to the proceedings. That notwithstanding, the latter’s choice of words left much to be desired and in one respect, what he did to two senior officials from the Ministry perceptibly rose to the level of bullying.
The officials in questions are Boatametse Modukanele and Tebo Mmabe. The former is MET’s Deputy Permanent Secretary but at the time of the hearing, was Acting Permanent Secretary and Mmabe is the Director of Finance in the same ministry. As the accounting officer and in line with practice, Modukanele was the lead presenter and answered practically all questions that Committee members asked. Not only did the Ministry submit an incomplete (some would say shoddy) report, poor stewardship on the part of senior managers became apparent during the hearing.
Resultantly, Committee members Modukanele found himself having to answer some really tough questions. The grilling was understandable but Reatile went a step farther, deploying language that rightly belongs in the battlefield that is the floor of parliament and not a Committee hearing. Those who use language of decorum would have cringed with shock from watching the livestreamed hearing on Facebook because for much of the time, when he wasn’t lobbing sarcasm, the Jwaneng-Mabutsane MP was making snide remarks.
From the get-go, it became clear that Reatile was determined to use his freedom of speech to the fullest and then some and would also be nonchalant with standard protocol. In one respect that manifested itself through liberal use of construction-site vocabulary (“Foromane”, meaning foreman) and slang expressions. At least twice, he referred to the Acting PS as just “Modukanele” when formality requires a title (“Mr” or its Setswana equivalent, “Rre”).
More problematic though was the sarcasm and snide remarks that only he used. On the other hand, there was a profusion of “Sir” from the MET officials, even when Reatile had clearly crossed the line. A good example to illustrate the latter was when he made a legitimate point that overspending is unlawful because it involves using funds that parliament hasn’t approved. Where that statement should have sufficed, he quipped rhetorically to Mmabe: ‘O na le authority ya gore o overspend-e hela ka gore o ngwana wa system?’ [Do you think you have authority to overspend because you are part of the system?] The latter is a magnanimous translation because “ngwana wa system” should rightly be translated as “a child of the system.”The overly polite response negating the latter characterisation was: “Nnyaa Rra, ga se gore go ntse jalo Sir.”
Reatile could also not restrain sarcasm when the Accountant General, who attends the hearings, made a suggestion that he felt would be too cumbersome to implement. His retort was that she wanted the Committee (and not the Ministry) to write a report for itself: “Akeare wa re re ikwalele report.” In an alternative world where MPs are required to be thoroughly steeped in the decorum of indigenous culture, “akeare” (or “akere” as the word is more commonly rendered) could never be used in a formal setting – and one in which age difference and level of familiarity are important factors. The world that we live in is one in which young MPs problematically use “akeare”/“akere” when addressing kgotla meetings that are attended by elderly people. Those familiar with this protocol would have cringed with shock each time Reatile said “akeare.” One such occurrence was when Reatile asked Modukanele whether he was listening to himself: “Akere o a ikutlwa?” The white hair on The PS’s head strongly suggested that he is much older than the MP.
Dissatisfied with the quality of the report tabled before his committee, Reatile wondered whether it might be a good idea to “chase away” MET officials: “Ga se gore re le kobe.” He chafed at the withholding of some vital information by the Ministry and unfavourably compared it to the Directorate of Intelligence Services and Security which has shared confidential information with the PAC. In making this point, Reatile remarked that Modukanele had made his ministry’s operations secretive: “O simolotse gore Ministry wa gago o nne wa sephiri.” When Modukanele offered to rework and resubmit the report, Reatile let out a sigh of exasperation.
The Ministry’s report skimped on details relating to something called “ASA” and in getting Mmabe to provide the missing information, the MP queried sarcastically: “Kana ga nke le cheka ASA ko Ministry–ng wa lona?”
Apparently, the MP has an issue with how the Ministry undertakes its projects and he made clear the fact that he believed Modukanele was the problem. For that reason, he wanted him – and not the substantive PS, to account for projects: “Ke batla go akgela wena ka gore go na le dilo tse le di dirang khokhae; ene ke gone ko madi a puso a helelang teng – mo di-projecteng.” The problematic words in the latter statement are “dilo tse le di dirang khokhae”, which might innocently translate as “things you don’t do right.” However, “khokhae” raises the bar of wrongness and is ordinarily used in accusatory fashion.
In some cases, the MP’s sought to paint the officials into a corner with his sarcasm. Last year, President Mokgweetsi Masisi unveiled a politically-tinged action plan that he termed Reset Agenda. Reatile asked Mmabe whether what she was doing was in line with that plan or whether she was opposing it. Reatile’s last word to Modukanele sounded almost like a let’s-meet-after-school threat from his teenage years. He expressed wish that he wouldn’t be transferred and would in fact be promoted in order that he can appear before the Committee next year: “O ka re ga ba na go go isa transfer. O ka re o ka nna substantive, ya tla ya re ngwaga o o tlang ke bo ke lebagane le wena.”
Around the time that Reatile was coming up, a slang expression (go sha kae?, meaning “What the problem?” but can also occur non-interrogative fashion) became fashionable. He pressed this expression into service when asking Mmabe to submit a report in order that the Committee could appreciate some issues pertinent to it: “O tla a e submit-a re te re utlwe gore gatwe go sha kae.”
The MP would probably have imagined that he was joking but the power imbalance negates that: you make fun of someone who can also make fun of you. A PAC chairperson has immense powers but an accounting officer appearing before him doesn’t have such powers. At the conclusion of the hearing, Reatile used the wrong pronoun when he told the MET officials that it might appear that “we are ridiculing you.” Other Committee members, notably Leepetswe Lesedi of Serowe South, also raised grave concern about the Ministry’s accounting but there was nothing disagreeable about the way they did so.
