SA minister Lindiwe Sisulu defies president and denies apologising

South Africa’s Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has denied apologising to the president for her criticism of the judiciary.

It came after the presidency said on Thursday that President Cyril Ramaphosa had met Ms Sisulu this week where she had apologised and retracted her “hurtful comments”.

The statement was posted on Twitter:

STATEMENT ON ARTICLE BY MINISTER OF TOURISM MS LINDIWE SISULU

President @CyrilRamaphosa met with the Minister of Tourism, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu, in Cape Town earlier this week, where he admonished her about her recent article “Hi Mzansi, have we seen justice?” of 7 January 2022.

— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) January 20, 2022

But Ms Sisulu said she “categorically” disowned the statement as “a misrepresentation of the meeting I had with the president”.

She said she stood by her remarks, had offered no apology and that the content of the president’s statement was unfortunate.

In an interview with state broadcaster SABC, her spokesman Steve Motale further said the minister had expected more engagement with the president and was shocked by the statement.

The presidency has said it stands by its statement.

In a recent article published by the media, Ms Sisulu wrote that some judges were “mentally colonised Africans”.

She also said the constitution had failed to improve the lives of black South Africans living in poverty.