A kwaito star, who led an artists' campaign to support the ANC during the elections, has been appointed to head President Jacob Zuma's hotline to be launched next month.
Eugene Mthethwa, of Trompies, trades in his sneakers and casual shirts for a suit and a tie for his new role as deputy director for public liaison and stakeholder management.
Zuma promised voters that they would be able to call his office directly to complain about government inefficiency.
Mthethwa is not just a vinyl-spinning DJ and dancer. He is a university graduate and an activist for artists' rights.
Mthethwa confirmed on Saturday that he was now a bureaucrat in this, his first formal job.
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"The unit will be in charge of the hotline, doing investigations of complaints from the public... researching them and supplying information to the departments," he said.
"This is a new chapter in my life... Tomorrow we will be opening the lines," said Mthethwa.
He said the hotline would be launched on October 6.
Mthethwa, who has produced two albums in support of Zuma, does not believe that his new job is a payback.
Support
He was a leading member of a group of performing artists who pledged their support for the ANC in the run-up to the general elections in April.
"My support for Zuma was based on a principle that an injury to one is an injury to all. Even when there were reports about Zuma's men I was never mentioned," he said.
Incidentally, Zuma made a special mention of Mthethwa when he was responding to the debate on his State of the Nation address in June.
Zuma told Parliament that he had received an email from Mthethwa after the State of the Nation address and he expressed "disappointment that I emphasised sport as a unifying force, to the exclusion of arts and culture in my address".
- This article was originally published on page 4 of Tribune on September 13, 2009
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