Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu on Friday morning claimed that she believed that the Presidency’s media team was at fault for being deliberately mischievous in the statement issued regarding her retracting and apologizing for her controversial comments about the judiciary.
Sisulu set the record straight in her own statement.
“I wish to categorically disown this statement in its entirety as a misrepresentation of the said meeting I had with the president. The president and I met on Wednesday at 21:00 at his house,” she said in a statement.
“In such a meeting, he shared his challenge with one aspect of the article on the judges. The president proposed an intermediary that would focus on the one line about the judges to resolve that. I awaited such to be communicated, which would do nothing to the entire article.
“Under no circumstances did I commit to any retraction or apology, since I stand by what I penned. The content of the president’s statement in its current form is unfortunate, as it is not what we agreed on. In this regard, I wish to distance myself from such.”
She said she would issue a full statement in the next 24 hours.
Sisulu’s comments led to a rift in the Cabinet, with other ministers denouncing her utterances.
She lambasted the criticism her pieces attracted, refusing to back down.
While the minister maintained she had been deliberately misquoted in the Presidency’s statement, she did concede that a respectful consultation with Ramaphosa did take place on Wednesday.
Sisulu’s objections come after the Presidency on Thursday released a statement saying Ramaphosa had met with her and admonished her over her attack on the judiciary, following which, the minister had then retracted her sentiments.
‘I stand by what I penned’
“Minister Sisulu conceded that her words were inappropriate and retracts this statement and affirms her support for the judiciary.”
“I accept that my column has levelled against the judiciary and African judges in particular unsubstantiated, gratuitous, and deeply hurtful comments,” reads the statement issued by the Presidency on Thursday.
But Sisulu set the record straight in her own statement shared on Thursday night.
Despite this subsequent statement by Sisulu, the office of the Presidency said, through yet another statement, that it stood by its initial statement.
The Presidency said late on Thursday it stood by its earlier statement, despite Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu effectively saying President Cyril Ramaphosa was lying by claiming she had apologized and retracted her controversial comments about the judiciary.
“The Presidency stands by its statement earlier this evening, 20 January 2022, on a discussion between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister of Tourism Ms Lindiwe Sisulu. The Presidency has nothing to add to the earlier statement,” the terse statement read.