Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi is emerging as one of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s most trusted lieutenants in the cabinet, with those close to the head of state touting her for a top-six position in the ANC.
Kubayi, whose star has been rising over the past few years, has of late been entrusted with bigger responsibilities both in government and the ANC in the run-up to the governing party’s conference in December.
Last week, the ANC national executive committee (NEC) – the party’s highest decision-making body between elective conferences – affirmed the selection of Kubayi as the head of its economic transformation committee (ETC).
The ETC brings together the party’s most brilliant minds on the economy and has been a stepping stone to powerful positions in the cabinet. Kubayi, aged 43, replaces long-serving ETC head and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.
A former tourism minister, Kubayi has been the head of the economic cluster in Ramaphosa’s national executive and was responsible for coordinating South Africa’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan at a time when the economy has been battered by Covid-19 and unemployment is at its highest level.
The economic cluster of ministries – which comprises leaders far more senior than Kubayi politically – includes the department of Public Enterprise, headed by Pravin Gordhan; the Department of Employment and Labour, which is led by Thulas Nxesi; the department of Tourism, whose minister is Lindiwe Sisulu; and the Department of Trade and Industry, which is led by Ebrahim Patel.
When Ramaphosa reshuffled his cabinet in August last year, Kubayi was appointed minister of human settlements, replacing Sisulu.
There had been concerns in Ramaphosa’s inner circle that the Department of Human Settlements under Sisulu could be used as a war chest for a presidential campaign.
Since then, Sisulu and her supporters have launched an ambitious campaign for her to succeed Ramaphosa.
A source close to Ramaphosa said Kubayi is a competent person who has earned the admiration of the head of state.
“She is on the rise. She is now the custodian of ANC economic policy after her elevation to the ETC, that is why she is increasingly being given more responsibility,” the source said.
A former NEC member of the ANC Youth League under its former leader Julius Malema, Kubayi’s effectiveness came to light during the deliberations of the Adhoc Committee on Nkandla in 2014, a period when her ability to hold the party line came to the fore.
Kubayi has previously served as minister in five portfolios – recently health in an acting capacity, tourism, science and technology, energy, and communications.
Another long-serving member of the NEC also heaped praise on Kubayi.
“She is energetic and young. Although she is not an economist, she is a smart person and will draw from our wisdom,” he said.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
