President Cyril Ramaphosa will take the podium on Monday night to announce his new Cabinet. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town - The nation continues to wait for President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce changes to the national executive.
On Sunday, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed that the reconfiguration of Cabinet would happen on Monday night.
While the rest of the changes are left to the public and political analysts to guess, what is certain is that Paul Mashatile, as the ANC’s number two, will succeed David Mabuza as deputy president.
Mabuza, meanwhile, will go down in history as the only deputy president to not ascend to the highest office in the land.
Another change that is guaranteed is that Fikile Mbalula will be removed as transport minister, because his new role as ANC secretary-general is a full time one.
It had been reported that Ramaphosa met ANC officials last Thursday to finalise the changes, but that the meeting was called off after the president fell sick.
However, regarding this Magwenya said “there was no meeting scheduled and thus none to cancel”.
A Cabinet reshuffle is, after all, at the discretion of the president, and he cannot really be held accountable for when and how this will be done.
However, the crippling load shedding calls for a radical approach in the mineral resources and energy, as well as public enterprises, ministries.
It remains to be seen whether ANC MPs who did not toe the party line in the Phala Phala report vote in Parliament will face the chop.
When Ramaphosa takes to the podium on Monday to announce changes to the national executive, we urge him to apply the “horses for courses” approach and not reward political allies or punish his rivals.
Cape Times