By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced changes to the national executive in accordance with section 91 (3) (b) of the constitution.
Ramaphosa has appointed Willem Aucamp as minister of Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Enviroment, replacing Dr Dion George.
George was axed as minister for staff abuse, refusal to follow party and cabinet rules.
He was asked to become deputy trade minister, “but he didn’t see that as an option for himself” and Alexandra Abrahams was recommended for that position.
Ramaphosa fired the DA’s Andrew Whitfield as deputy trade minister in June for travelling abroad without permission.
He further appointed Alexandra Abrahams as deputy minister of Trade and Industry, in accordance to section 93 (1) (a) of the constitution.
This comes after the Democratic Alliance (DA), proposed the changes. The party is a key partner in Government of National Unity (GNU).
The DA joined a 10-member coalition government led by the African National Congress (ANC) after last year’s elections failed to produce an outright winner and was allocated six cabinet posts.
The DA’s federal executive committee had decided on the new appointees to the government, the party’s leader John Steenhuisen said.
These appointments will strengthen the DA’s contribution to the GNU, and advance the urgent reform agenda our country and its people so desperately need, added Steenhuisen.
Meanwhile several Civil Society Organisations expressed concern over DA’s proposal to oust George and to replace him with Aucamp.
Three letters landed on Ramaphosa’s desk this week from the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (Wapfsa), the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) and a coalition including Blood Lions, Humane World for Animals South Africa, Voice4Lions and Animal Law Reform South Africa, urging him to reject Aucamp’s appointment.
Wapfsa claimed Aucamp is “proudly, explicitly and publicly aligned with South Africa’s hunting and wildlife breeding, including genetically modifying species, specifically for trophy hunting. His family have interests in the hunting and breeding of wild animals for profit”.
The Public Service Commission Act defines a “perceived conflict of interest” as a position where a public official appears to be influenced by private interests.
“If Aucamp is appointed, there will be a clear situation in which a public official has a private interest which influences, or appears to influence, a public decision,” Wapfsa said.
The NSPCA, in its letter to Ramaphosa, stressed that its mandate is to act in the public interest, taking animal welfare into account in government decisions. It requested urgent consultation on reports of George’s proposed replacement.
“Just as our laws cater for robust public participation, the well-established precedent in National Council of the SPCA v Minister of Environmental Affairs and Others 2020 (1) SA 249 (GP) obliges public functionaries to consider animal welfare when exercising their powers – even if they do not have an animal welfare mandate,” it said.
Aucamp said, I hope that the NSPCA and Wapfsa will be willing to sit down with me so that they can get to know me as a person.
“I am convinced that if they get to know me, they will realise that their fears are unfounded and that I will at all times act in the best interests of our country’s rich natural and wildlife heritage. This is therefore an open invitation to the NSPCA and Wapfsa to do so.”