POLITICALLY MOTIVATED CABINET RESHUFFLE WILL NOT IMPROVE SERVICE DELIVERY
The Pan Africanist Youth Congress (PAYCO) of Azania is of the view that the cabinet reshuffle, 17 months after the National Elections and a few weeks after ministers signed meaningless performance agreements, confirms lack of leadership by president Jacob Zuma.
It has become fashionable for government to make empty promises to people who put them into office and we can predict that the cabinet reshuffle will not result in improved service delivery. It is nothing but a desperate attempt to place cronies of the president in positions of power in order to further the president's factional political ambitions to be re-elected at the ANC conference in 2012.
The whole country witnessed the reckless and imprudent manner in which the cabinet was assembled. It became clear beyond any doubt that the president made sure to reward lieutenants who stood by him during his rape trial and corruption accusations. At the end, the country had the misfortune of funding a bloated ineffective cabinet made up of clueless ministers.
The reshuffle raises more questions than answers. Did the president asses the purged ministers based on performance agreements signed recently? Will the newly appointed ministers sign new performance agreements or are tied to deliver according to performance agreements signed by their predecessors?
Are the ministers who retained their cabinet posts including the two ministers of education delivering? It is clear that these performance agreements are nothing but a way to hoodwink unsuspecting masses of our people to believe that government has intentions to improve service delivery.
Jacob Zuma must stop playing political games and deliver services to poor African masses in the townships, urban centres and rural areas. The masses of our people must remain vigilant and dismiss self interested politicians who have no respect for voters.
Statement issued by Lucky Khoza, PAYCO Secretary General, November 1 2010
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