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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Cyril Ramaphosa has </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-06-30-ramaphosa-announces-cabinet-with-ministers-from-anc-da-ifp-pa-and-pac/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">appointed</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a bloated Cabinet and executive to accommodate the 11 parties in the government of national unity (GNU) and balance the different forces in the ANC. The result: a gargantuan government after South Africans voted their unhappiness by not giving any party a majority and when there’s been a lot of support for cutting rather than growing the executive.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Cabinet has grown to 32 members (from 30) and there are now 43 deputy ministers (from 36). By global standards, this is a large government. Each minister has a staff of about 10, while deputies have a slightly smaller staff. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Africans voted for jobs and against the high cost of living, power and water cuts and high levels of crime. The Cabinet must be evaluated according to how Ramaphosa responded to these priorities.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The leaders of the DA, IFP, PA, FF+, PAC and Good party, John Steenhuisen, Velenkosini Hlabisa, Gayton McKenzie, Pieter Groenewald, Mzwanele Nyhontso and Patricia de Lille are in the Cabinet. The DA has six Cabinet positions, the IFP two, the PA one, the PAC one, the Good party one and the FF+ one.</span>\r\n\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2253141 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Ministers-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"gnu cabinet\" width=\"714\" height=\"2560\" />\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Independent political analyst Wayne Sussman says the ANC has retained the lion’s share (62.5%) of Cabinet positions excluding the President, Deputy President and deputy minister portfolios (76.7%). This is overweight against its showing of 40% in the elections.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is our early view of the good, the bad and the perplexing in the Cabinet choices. </span>\r\n<h4><b>The good</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The economic and energy portfolios are well served. <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-07-01-ramaphosa-embraces-continuity-in-economic-cluster-of-new-cabinet/\">Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has kept his job</a>. The man in the hat has universal respect and has been a deft hand as Treasury boss. Godongwana’s two deputies are excellent. David Masondo has stayed and will be joined by the DA’s deputy federal chairperson, Ashor Sarupen. Both are talented young leaders who are well-schooled in financial management. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As trade, industry and competition minister, Parks Tau is an inspired choice for an important portfolio, while a vital economic growth portfolio has gone to the DA: Solly Malatsi is the minister of communications and digital technologies.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ramaphosa’s best news for the economy was that he had ended the confusing political leadership of the vital energy portfolio. There is only one chief now and that is Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who did an excellent job as electricity minister. Rotational power cuts (or load shedding) are diminishing with the effective reform of Eskom, independent power production and lower demand.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are other optimistic appointments to the Cabinet. The DA’s Leon Schreiber gets home affairs, a department in need of the most urgent fix as it defines citizens’ lives from birth to death and often does a bad job. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IFP leader Hlabisa is a measured and calm leader and as the minister of cooperative government and traditional affairs, he will get to fix local government and streamline traditional leadership governance.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As minister of international relations, Ronald Lamola gets a well-deserved promotion. At the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, he did an excellent job and by leading South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, he developed a new profile.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s a pity that Senzo Mchunu has been moved to the Ministry of Police because he has been an excellent water affairs and sanitation minister. But with a technocratic bent, he could begin to get a handle on runaway crime which years of bloviating by Bheki Cele failed to dent.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Siviwe Gwarube takes over the basic education portfolio after a long run there by Angie Motshekga, who moves to the Defence Ministry. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DA leader Steenhuisen has been an excellent MP and now gets to try his hand at a Cabinet role. He will be the agriculture minister, while the PAC’s Nyhontso is the land reform and rural development minister. These two land choices are either inspired or deeply Machiavellian moves by Ramaphosa because the DA and PAC are so different in their views on land.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patricia de Lille has been a good tourism minister who cleaned house after Lindiwe Sisulu left a mess and it’s good she retains an important portfolio for economic growth and jobs.</span>\r\n<h4><b>The bad — many no-name brand leaders</b></h4>\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2255854\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Deputy-Ministers-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"603\" height=\"2560\" />\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ANC has commandeered most of the jobs and filled them with many no-name brand ministers and deputy ministers to balance its various political factions and patronage groups. Chances are that most South Africans would be hard-pressed to name more than a handful of the new government ministers and their deputies.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the student aid mess at NSFAS, Blade Nzimande has lost the higher education portfolio and is now the science, technology and innovation minister. A vital job like this requires fresh energy. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After years of doing very little except becoming a hawk on migration at Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi is back as health minister. He was a good health minister but so was Joe Phaahla, who is now deputy. Motsoaledi’s belligerence does not augur well for a job that is going to need extreme diplomacy to deal with the NHI legislation, which faces at least six different legal challenges. </span>\r\n<h4><b>The perplexing</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why South Africa needs 43 deputy ministers is perplexing. It’s unclear what most deputy ministers do; now we have more of them than ever. The appointment of two deputies for police — Polly Boshielo and Cassel Mathale — is questionable because the police need less political interference in crime-fighting, not more.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Motshekga is a seasoned politician and Cabinet minister, but her appointment as defence minister is a head-scratcher. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Presidency is getting bigger and bigger. The minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, gets two deputies — Nonceba Mhlauli and Kenneth Morolong. The Presidency also takes on the public enterprises functions as that ministry ended with Pravin Gordhan’s retirement. It also houses the women, youth and persons with disabilities minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga, (previously the populist transport minister) with a deputy portfolio added.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have no words for McKenzie’s appointment as sport, arts and culture minister. He ran a nightclub chain once, but that’s hardly a good qualification for a vital soft power job. </span><b>DM</b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daily Maverick’s</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> journalism is funded by the contributions of our Maverick Insider members. If you appreciate our work, then join our membership community. Defending Democracy is an everyday effort. Be part of it.</span></i><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/insider/?utm_source=dm_website&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=cabinet_announcement\"> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Become a Maverick Insider</span></i></a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span></i>",
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