A total of 13 ANC national leaders joined President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national executive on Monday, including ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile.
In December, Mashatile was elected ANC deputy president, easing his path to the Union Buildings.
After a month, former Deputy President David Mabuza resigned, but the president asked him to stay a little longer. Last week, Ramaphosa let go of Mabuza, confirming his resignation.
Mashatile and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana were appointed MPs last month, along with ANC members Sihle Zikalala, Maropene Ramokgopa, and Parks Tau. Trade, industry, and competition minister Ebrahim Patel got sworn in earlier on Monday.
Ramaphosa has had time to think about the new appointments. The delay sent the message that Ramaphosa didn’t want Mashatile to be his deputy.
On Monday Ramaphosa said: “There has been some concern expressed by South Africans about the amount of time it has taken to finalise these changes to the Executive. This delay is the result of a number of processes that needed to be followed, some of which relate to the requirements of the Constitution relating to the appointment of members of the National Executive”.
“The President appoints the Deputy President, Ministers, and Deputy Ministers from among members of the National Assembly. The President may appoint no more than two Ministers and two Deputy Ministers from outside the National Assembly”.
He continued: “Understanding that just over one year remains in the term of this 6th administration, these changes are not about overhauling the National Executive. The changes that I am announcing now are intended to fill vacancies that have occurred in the Executive and to direct government more effectively towards areas that require urgent and decisive action”.
The other new members of the Cabinet are Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, and Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth, and People with Disabilities, Dr. Aside from Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Maropene Ramokgopa is Minister in the Presidency in charge of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation, and Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is Minister in charge of Electricity.
The primary job of Ramokgopa, the new electricity minister, will be to reduce the severity and frequency of load shedding as quickly as possible,” Ramaphosa said.
“To effectively oversee the electricity crisis response, the appointed Minister will have political responsibility, authority, and control over all critical aspects of the Energy Action Plan. This will help to deal with the challenge of fragmentation of responsibility across various departments and Ministers which, while appropriate under normal circumstances, is not conducive to a crisis response”.
He said Ramokgopa “will be expected to facilitate the coordination of the numerous departments and entities involved in the crisis response, work with the Eskom leadership to turn around the performance of existing power stations, and accelerate the procurement of new generation capacity”.
Other appointments include Mondli Gungubele as Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies. Thembi Nkadimeng takes over as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. The Minister of Public Service and Administration becomes Noxolo Kiviet.
Also, Sihle Zikalala is the new Public Works and Infrastructure Minister. Zizi Kodwa gets the sports, arts, and culture ministry, Patricia de Lille gets the tourism ministry, and Sindisiwe Chikunga gets the transport ministry.
Nomasonto Motaung and Kenneth Morolong are the new deputy ministers in the Presidency, Sisisi Tolashe is the new deputy minister for women, youth, and disabilities, Pinky Kekana is the new deputy minister for planning, monitoring, and evaluation.
The Deputy Ministers for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will be Parks Tau and Zolile Burns-Ncamashe, Ramaphosa said. David Mahlobo and Judith Tshabalala are deputy ministers for water and sanitation.
There’s Bernice Swarts as Deputy Minister of Public Works, Dipuo Peters as Deputy Minister of Small Business Development, Obed Bapela as Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises, and Lisa Mangcu as Deputy Minister of Transport.
Ramaphosa said goodbye to Fikile Mbalula (Transport), Lindiwe Sisulu (Tourism), Nathi Mthethwa (Sports, Arts, and Culture), and Maite Nkwana-Mashabane (Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities).
He said he “sought to balance the need for new skills and capabilities to drive the agenda that we outlined in the State of the Nation Address with the important task of ensuring stability and continuity in the work of government”.
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