Acting Health MEC Jacob Mamabolo: Gauteng’s ‘Mr Fix It’ Trudging Through The COVID Fires

THEBE MABANGA

JACOB Mamabolo, the Gauteng MEC for Transport who is now also the acting MEC for Health, can safely be described as the province’s chief firefighter. Interacting with Mamabolo gives a sense that he excels on putting out fires, attending to the many challenges that government faces, the latest of which is the outbreak of COVID-19.

 Mamabolo, 51, assumed the health portfolio after MEC Dr Bandile Masuku was asked to step aside following allegations of corruption on the procurement of personal protective equipment.

He is perfectly suited to fill an unexpected vacancy in the department that is leading the fight against a pandemic.

Mamabolo sat down for an interview with Inside Politics after he had received a briefing about the province’s continuing response to COVID-19.

Straight after, he then had to meet taxi operators from the Tshwane area to quell a crisis in the area.

In the first week