The anticipated Cabinet reshuffle on Monday night by President Cyril Ramaphosa did not deserve all the hype it received.
For weeks he has been promising to reshuffle the Cabinet, but all I can see is that he is filling positions, so it makes us wonder why it took him so long.
His new cabinet is still almost the same, except for Lindiwe Sisulu as tourism minister.
This was expected as he said he would not be willing to join the cabinet if Ramaphosa won a second term as ANC president.
Survive
However, amazingly, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma survived. He was one of Ramaphosa’s vocal critics, but instead of sacking him, he relegated him to the women, youth and children portfolio, which carries less weight than the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) he handles.
This is a subtle way of telling him that he has lost trust in her. It is shocking that the president has continued to perform poorly.
It boggles the mind how the likes of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande, Police Minister Bheki Cele, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga have been detained. These ministers are wasting money on our country.
Nzimande and Motshekga have been at the helm of the education portfolio for years, but nothing is right.
No one expected him to perform a miracle, but he was tired and had nothing left to do. For Cele, crime is out of control and Gordhan has done nothing to turn Eskom around – as the country faces an energy crisis that is crippling the economy.
electricity minister
While it is expected that Paul Mashatile will be the vice president, thumbs up for the appointment of Dr Kgosientso “Sputla” Ramokgopa as the minister in the presidency responsible for electricity.
He comes with a wealth of experience and seems well-suited to take on the challenge of electing an Eskom CEO and end the burden-shedding.
Also read: Kgosientsho Ramokgopa appointed electricity minister
The appointment of former KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala as minister of public works and infrastructure was welcomed.
But Zizi Kodwa’s appointment as sports, arts and culture minister only promoted him as Ramaphosa’s number one fan and got rid of the “minister of condolence”, Nathi Mthethwa.
The President should appoint Parks Tau as Cogta minister instead of his deputy. But with all this going on, the entire Cabinet still lacks va-va-voom.
Ramaphosa’s new cabinet did not justify why he consulted so much and caused delays. It is still an old house and has no youth in the younger world.
Ramaphosa has spat in the face of ANC young deployees to parliament and voiced a motion of no confidence in them.
A proper shake-up would be more welcome, because this is just copying and pasting the Cabinet. In general, Ramaphosa really invited us for a ride. If he thought that the Cabinet inspired him seriously, it was only a dream.
This was an opportunity for him to infuse new and fresh blood in the country’s executive, but it has failed dismally.
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