The new President of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, must act quickly and decisively to gain the confidence of the South African nation, and demonstrate that he can rise above the factional power-plays of the ruling party and govern in the interests of the people as a whole.

He must show that he is the leader of the nation, rather than the chosen proxy for the leader of a victorious faction in the ruling party, at whose behest he was elected President. And for that to happen, he must, at the outset of his term in office, do two things which are in the national interest but which will not serve the self-interest of ANC President Jacob Zuma and his clique.

Firstly, he must announce the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry into the arms deal, headed by a judge nominated by the Chief Justice.

In his verdict on the matter between Jacob Zuma vs. the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Judge Chris Nicholson said of the arms deal: "Only a commission of enquiry can properly rid our land of this cancer that is devouring the body politic and the reputation for integrity built up so assiduously after the fall of Apartheid".

This proposal - a key recommendation in a judgment which, incidentally, was hailed by the Zuma camp as proof that our judiciary is independent and that constitutional democracy is flourishing - should be adopted by President Motlanthe. In fact, it is only right and just that he should use his constitutional power to appoint such a commission, headed by a judge nominated by the Chief Justice, so that we can get to the whole truth.

The decay of our state institutions, caused by infighting in the ANC and the use of these institutions to wage political battles, partly has its origins in conflicts triggered by the arms deal. President Motlanthe can help to arrest that decay, and prove his commitment to fighting corruption, by appointing a commission without delay.

Secondly, President Motlanthe must state unequivocally that under his administration there will be no ‘political solution' to Zuma's legal problems. Any attempt to broker a special political deal for Zuma outside of the courts, with presidential consent, would be illegal and unconstitutional, and would violate the oath of office taken by President Motlanthe when he was sworn in by the Chief Justice yesterday.

It would be a betrayal of his conscience, and a gross infringement of the principle of equality before the law, if President Motlanthe abused his power either to facilitate or condone a political settlement for Zuma.

There is prima facie evidence that the ANC President accepted 783 bribes totalling R4.2 million over ten years. Zuma cannot credibly occupy any office of state until a court of law has had a chance to weigh the evidence and establish his innocence. A short-circuiting of that process - especially one engineered by the Presidency, or one to which it turned a blind eye - would confirm that the "recall" of former President Thabo Mbeki was a cynical ploy by Zuma's supporters to get their man off the hook without him having to face his day in court.

Of course, President Motlanthe will also have to calm the political storm that erupted on Saturday when Mbeki was recalled, and which rumbled this week, after it was announced that a third of the Cabinet had resigned. The manner and timing of that announcement surprised South Africans, temporarily devalued the rand, shook local financial markets, and revealed the breakdown of trust between the executive and the ruling party.

Given that several Ministers from the Mbeki administration have been included in the reshuffled Cabinet, President Motlanthe must ensure that whatever tensions still exist between the executive and the ANC do not negatively impact on governance and service delivery.

It is encouraging to see Trevor Manuel return as Finance Minister. The appointment of Barbara Hogan as Minister of Health is a welcome development. The redeployment of her predecessor, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, as Minister in the Presidency, is hard to justify given her track record of incompetence. Perhaps her political survival can be explained by the fact that her husband, Mendi Msimang, is a former ANC treasurer, and knows a great deal about the financial dealings and misdealings of the ruling party.

We note with interest that Brigitte Mabandla has been moved to Public Enterprises, and made way for Enver Surty as Minister of Justice. This is a critical portfolio in relation to the National Prosecuting Authority, because in terms of legislation, the Minister of Justice can request information from the NPA about pending prosecutions. The DA will be watching Minister Surty closely to ensure he defends the independence of the NPA and allows it to get on with its constitutional mandate of instituting prosecutions where there is prima facie evidence against any person, irrespective of his or her political status.

For the rest, President Motlanthe's Cabinet is something of a mixed bag, and it will have its work cut out to restore the integrity of government in the short space of seven to ten months, when new elections will have to be held. Even so, it must begin clearing the debris left by the Mbeki administration, notably its policy failures on crime, HIV/Aids, and job creation.

On crime, President Motlanthe can send a powerful message to South Africans by distancing his government from the kind of denialism that led the former Minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula (now inexplicably redeployed to Defence) to say that citizens tired of crime could either "whinge until they are blue in the face" or "simply leave this country".

The President and his new Minister, Nathi Mthethwa, must also work to bring down levels of crime, improve conviction rates, and expedite the review of the criminal justice system.

In the health portfolio, Barbara Hogan will bring a measure of competence that Tshabalala-Msimang sorely lacked. Her challenge now is to rid the Ministry of the last vestiges of denialism that sowed confusion about how HIV/Aids is transmitted, hamstrung the universal rollout of antiretroviral medication, and diminished South Africa's reputation internationally.

Finally, it is time for President Motlanthe to revisit the debate on labour market reform initiated by Jacob Zuma last year, when the ANC President called for greater labour market flexibility on the grounds that restrictive labour laws were "counting out the poorest of the poor" from the job market.

A considerable weight rests on President Motlanthe's shoulders. His past words and deeds suggest that he might bring a level-headed approach to government and exercise a stabilising effect on our national politics which have been taken to the brink by his colleagues in the ruling party. But he must distance himself immediately from their power-plays, and govern in the interests of South Africa rather than the interests of the Jacob Zuma camp.

This article by Helen Zille, first appeared in SA Today, the weekly online newsletter of the leader of the Democratic Alliance, September 26 2008