Despite being asked by Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen to quit, Roman Cabanac is refusing to vacate his position as chief of staff.
This is according to a report by the Daily Maverick.
ROMAN CABANAC REFUSES TO RESIGN AS STEENHUISEN’S CHIEF OF STAFF
While addressing the Cape Town Press Club earlier this month, Steenhuisen confirmed that he had asked Cabanac to step down from his role.
During his address, Steenhuisen said he is happy to admit that no one gets it right all the time.
“People make mistakes, people don’t always get it right and I think you should be judged for what you do when that mistake has been made and has been pointed out to you and what you do thereafter. There has been a conversation with Mr Cabanac and it is a human resource discussion that’s underway and frankly, I found it far too destructing from the work of our ministry and our government,” the DA leader said.
According to the Daily Maverick, Cabanac is refusing to resign and continues to operate from his office at times.
Notably, “Chief Of Staff – Minister Of Agriculture” is still on Cabanac’s X (formerly Twitter) profile.
“RACIST, DIVISIVE AND CONTROVERSIAL” PODCASTER’S APPOINTMENT SPARKS OUTRAGE
Cabanac’s appointment sparked outrage on social media platforms as users shared various tweets and videos where he was seemingly racist.
According to Daily Maverick, Cabanac hinted that the Sharpeville massacre – in which 69 protestors were killed by apartheid police – may not have happened in the manner history records.
In addition, Cabanac juxtaposed an image of a “p*es” sign when referencing president Cyril Ramaphosa, termed ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula “handicapped”, and referred to Ramaphosa’s spokesperson as “Cyril’s Spokesretard”.
‘I HAVE CHANGED’
Following the outrage on social media, Cabanac released a statement where he acknowledged that his past comments were controversial and sparked debates.
“In the past, I built my brand as a critic of the previous government. I pushed boundaries to gain attention on social media and sometimes made divisive, idle and poorly considered statements in the heat of online journalism. While some of the criticisms were well-founded, I also admit that others were insensitive and provocative, driven by the desire to invite debate,” he said.
Further, he said he has changed after it dawned on him that his approach had not been constructive.
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