Minister of communications and digital technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has broken her silence with a public declaration that she did in fact breach the regulations of the nationwide lockdown.
Ndabeni-Abrahams issued a brief statement on Wednesday
after President Cyril Ramaphosa informed the country that he had placed her on
two months' special leave — one of them
unpaid.
Minister in the presidency Jackson Mthembu will be acting
as minister of communications and digital technologies for the duration of
Ndabeni-Abrahams’ suspension.
Ndabeni-Abrahams said she wanted to apologise to the
president, her colleagues in the national command centre and society at large
for breaching lockdown rules put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“I regret the incident and I am deeply sorry for my
actions. I hope the president and South Africans will find it in their hearts
to forgive me,” she said in the statement.
“The president has put me on a special leave with immediate
effect. I undertake to abide by the conditions of the special leave.”
The action comes after the minister appeared in a social
media post this past weekend lunching with former deputy minister Mduduzi
Manana — who resigned from his position and was convicted for the assault of a
woman.
South Africans have been strictly prohibited from
non-essential gatherings as part of regulations governing the 21-day nationwide
lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The picture of Manana, his family and the minister appeared
briefly on the former deputy minister’s Instagram feed before being deleted.
Manana issued a statement on Tuesday saying the minister had been in the area
for essential work and had stopped by his place to pick up donations of
protective gear when he asked her to join his family for lunch.
Ramaphosa said he was “unmoved by mitigating factors,”
tendered by the minister when he met her.
Hundreds of South Africans have been arrested and face jail
or fines for violating the lockdown regulations. The presidency statement said
that the law “should take its course,” in terms of the Ndabeni-Abrahams
situation - an indication that she is perhaps not off the hook yet. Times
— mamoriri_motshwana (@RNephthys) April 8, 2020
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