South Africa’s President Ramaphosa Announces #CabinetReshuffle

Communications Minister: Nomvula Mokonyane;

Energy Minister: Jeff Radebe

Ramaphosa has been under pressure to appoint a deputy president and to make changes to the Cabinet he inherited from former president Jacob Zuma.

Opposition parties and civil society have been expressing their unhappiness with a number of ministers that they believe should sacked.

Some of them include they wanted the president to replace are Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, Water Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane and Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.

Some of these ministers have been linked to allegations of state capture, while others like Dlamini have been singled out by the opposition for incompetence.

On Tuesday, Ramaphosa responded to calls from opposition benches that he fire members of the Cabinet, saying if there is a Cabinet reshuffle, it won’t be done at the behest of the opposition.

On February 15, Ramaphosa was elected and sworn in as South Africa’s new president by the National Assembly, a day after Zuma was forced to resign by the ruling party.

Ramaphosa, 65, was the sole candidate put forward by the National Assembly and takes up the top post almost two decades after he was favoured by Nelson Mandela as his successor, only to be pushed aside by the party in favour of Thabo Mbeki.

In a short acceptance speech in Parliament, Ramaphosa said he faced a humbling task and would try his best to serve all South Africans.

He promised to tackle corruption and a massive rent-seeking scandal that has lost state-owned companies billions and embroiled Zuma, his son Duduzane and several Cabinet ministers.