Mabuza’s presence spoils Ramaphosa’s attempt to get rid of rotten apples in the Cabinet
30 May 2019
A smaller Cabinet, as promised, to inspire investor confidence and a commendable attempt to get rid of rotten apples from the previous dispensation, like Bathabile Dlamini and Nomvula Mokonyana, are the positive aspects.
The negative, however, is the presence of deputy president David Mabuza who hangs like an albatross around the President's neck. In a nutshell, that is the FF Plus's view of the Cabinet that President Cyril Ramaphosa announced earlier tonight.
Surprises include the appointment of Ms Patricia de Lille as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and the absence of the veteran ANC politician Derek Hanekom.
Another positive point in the FF Plus's opinion is the appointment of ministers who inspire confidence in two key positions. They are the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, and the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan.
Their presence will send positive signals regarding investment possibilities in South Africa to potential investors and grading agencies. Whether these signals will bring about success depends on the two ministers.
The appointment of Thoko Didiza as Minister of Agriculture, Rural development and Land reform is also welcomed. She has prior experience and has shown herself to be competent to manage the portfolio.
The FF Plus is satisfied with the fact that the Cabinet was reduced from 36 ministers to only 28. It, however, could have been reduced even more because under former President Thabo Mbeki, the Cabinet consisted of only 26 ministries.
With regard to deputy ministers, the situation basically remains unchanged. In the previous term, there were 35 deputy ministers and that number has been reduced with only one to 34. Thus, the number of deputy ministers exceed the number of ministers by six seeing as some ministries have two deputy ministers.
As a result, the deputy minister component of the Cabinet is still inflated and it is lamentable that the President was unable to downscale in that regard as well.
All in all, the FF Plus is satisfied with the Cabinet, but wants to assure the people of South Africa that the government and all the ministers' performance will be watched very closely. South Africa's economy has reached a point where we cannot afford any more failures.
Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 30 May 2019
