By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended the role of deputy ministers, saying they play a crucial role in assisting ministers in the performance of their duties.
The debate over a bloated Cabinet, which includes ministers, and the executive, which also includes deputies, has lingered since 2018, when Ramaphosa first took office and promised a more efficient, streamlined government.
During a parliamentary Q&A session on Tuesday, 9 September, Ramaphosa responded to a question from ActionSA MP Athol Trollip by acknowledging the long-standing concerns about the size of his executive.
“You may recall that right at the beginning, right at the beginning, when we constituted this government, we did address this issue and said that my own wish was that we should have a much smaller executive. That has always been my declared wish,” said Ramaphosa.
Despite his intention, the President expanded his executive after the 2024 elections instead of reducing it, choosing to accommodate political allies within the Government of National Unity (GNU).
“However, the need to have a GNU which is properly representative meant that we needed to have the type of architecture that we have now. It is an architecture which I believe works.”
Of the 43 deputy ministers, 33 belong to the ANC, with six from the DA, two from the IFP, and one each from the UDM and Al Jamah-ah.
Ramaphosa’s comments expose the trade-off at the heart of his administration, having abandoned the promise of a leaner, more cost-effective government to keep the 10-party GNU coalition intact.
Trollip asked whether he and the ANC would support his constitutional amendment bill aimed at doing away with deputy ministers so that the money spent on them could be redirected to the betterment of the country.
In his response, Ramaphosa said he would like to have a look at the bill.
“Please have the bill forwarded so that we can look at it. I am unable to respond in any way until I see the content of the bill, “he said.
The president commended Trollip for introducing the bill, saying he was making a meaningful contribution because he was concerned, as he was, with the size of the executive.
The Presidency is one of the largest ministerial offices, with Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni backed by two deputies, Nonceba Mhlauli and Kenneth Morolong, both from the ANC.