By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet reshuffle could come soon as he began consultations with ANC alliance partners Cosatu and the SA Communist Party (SACP) on Friday.
Sizwe Pamla, the spokesperson for Cosatu, confirmed the meeting between Ramaphosa and the general secretary of the union, Solly Phetoe.
Pamla said there was indeed a one-on-one meeting between Phetoe and the president – but he is not privy to the discussions.
Since his state of the nation address earlier this month, Ramaphosa has been making a concerted effort to meet with alliance partners.
Previous meetings have primarily focused on the current performance of Cabinet, and a handful of recommendations were made regarding who to put where.
Confirmed positions that need replacements include:
- The transport minister, Fikile Mbalula, is now ANC secretary general, a full-time position;
- The public services and administration minister, a position that has been vacant for a couple of years;
- The deputy president, after David Mabuza, announced his resignation; and
- The new minister of electricity announced by Ramaphosa during his State of the Nation Address.
The tourism portfolio and CoGTA (Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) are also potentially subject to change.
This is because the current tourism minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, is becoming increasingly politically hostile, and the CoGTA minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, went against the party and voted with opposition parties to initiate an impeachment process against Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa is currently considering whether to fill the vacant posts and two deputy minister roles or make significant changes to his executive.
Mbalula is set to resign before the end of next month, with the ANC guiding him on the exact timing. The details of the changes to the executive will depend on whether it will be a complete cabinet reshuffle or just a minor adjustment.
Reports state that Head of Infrastructure at the presidency Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is the frontrunner for the new position of minister of electricity.
SACP general general Solly Mapaila confirmed that they have been in consultations with the ANC, a process he said was ongoing.
He said they discussed the Cabinet reshuffle in principle and the focus was on government’s performance.
Mapaila said they had made suggestions to Ramaphosa on what changes to take into consideration.
“We hope the president will take our ideas and suggestions [we made to him], which we think need interventions, based on his constitutional mandate.”
The new meetings come days after top ANC officials voiced their concern over how long the process was taking with constant delays in the reshuffle.
The ANC has sworn in four new MPs earlier this month, namely party Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Second Secretary-General Maropene Ramokgopa, KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance MEC Sihle Zikalala, and former Gauteng Economic Development MEC Parks Tau.
Mashatile will replace deputy David Mabuza as Deputy President of South Africa, while there is no clear indication of the departments Zikalala, Ramokgopa and Tau will be deployed to.