New Cabinet, same ANC
22 November 2018
The DA notes President Ramaphosa’s Cabinet reshuffle. While we welcome his commitment to making the Cabinet more capable, his announcement is the second missed opportunity in nine months to fire delinquent Ministers such as Bathabile Dlamini, and Nomvula Mokonyane.
It was also a missed opportunity to cut down the size of this bloated Executive, as we have called on him to do, and we contend that it is entirely possible for a more effective Executive to operate with around 15 ministries. Merging Telecommunications, Postal Services and Communications into one Ministry and recycling Siyabonga Cwele onto Home Affairs does nothing to achieve this and is little more than a reshuffling of dead wood.
The DA’s court action to have Dlamini fired is still ongoing. However, today is the extended deadline for the President to file his motion to oppose this application and his failure to fire Dlamini is all the answer that we need.
Bathabile Dlamini brought the country’s social grants system to the brink of collapse and played Russian roulette with the welfare of 17 million South Africans. She is a Zupta deployee who the Constitutional Court said ‘was reckless and grossly negligent’ in her handling of the SASSA grants crisis, and ordered her to pay costs. The Court also found “very strong” evidence that Dlamini gave false testimony, and recommended that the NPA investigate charges of perjury against her. It is inconceivable that such a person could hold Executive office in any constitutional democracy. Bathabile Dlamini deserves to be fired, and President Ramaphosa’s failure to do so suggests he endorses her conduct.
Dlamini’s delinquency is followed closely by former Minister of Water and Sanitation and Communications, now Environmental Affairs Minister, Nomvula Mokonyane, who destroyed the Water and Sanitation Department. That department remains effectively paralysed by corruption, incompetence and maladministration. She chose Dudu Myeni to run the Mhlathuze and Umgeni waterboards, proving her reliability as a Zupta deployee so how she now finds herself on Environmental Affairs defies reason.
A ‘New Dawn’ cannot be built on the same liars and Zupta loyalists who helped keep Jacob Zuma in power and out of prison. Dlamini and Mokonyane’s watch must end and President Ramaphosa failed to end it.
This Cabinet reshuffle represents no real change. The decks have simply been reshuffled to please ANC insiders.
Ramaphosa has made it clear that he is the President of the ANC before he is the President of the Republic. The people of South Africa will always come last so long as the ANC is in government.
Issued by Mmusi Maimane, Leader of the Democratic Alliance, 22 November 2018
