Ramaphosa announces his new Cabinet

After two weeks of intense negotiations between parties in the government of national unity (GNU), SA finally has an executive. Legalbrief reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa last night said the establishment of the GNU had to ensure that the outcome of the poll was addressed and that the capabilities of all parties represented were taken into account. The leaders of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Patriotic Alliance (PA), Freedom Front (FF) Plus, Pan African Congress (PAC) and GOOD party (John Steenhuisen, Velenkosini Hlabisa, Gayton McKenzie, Pieter Groenewald, Mzwanele Nyhontso and Patricia de Lille) are in the Cabinet. The DA has six Cabinet positions, the IFP two, the PA one, the PAC one, the GOOD party one and the FF Plus one. ‘As a relatively young democracy, we should be proud that we have moved to establish a government comprised of 11 parties within such a short space of time.’ News24 reports Ramaphosa said he has had to ensure that he considered gender, youth, demographics, and regional distribution. ‘We want South Africans to see themselves reflected not only in the composition of government, but also in its policies and programmes,’ he said. Ramaphosa said that while he had wanted to reduce the size of his Cabinet, it had not been possible because of the ‘need to ensure that the national executive is inclusive of all parties to the GNU’. Independent political analyst Wayne Sussman said the ANC has retained the lion’s share (62.5%) of Cabinet positions excluding the President, Deputy President and Deputy Minister portfolios (76.7%). This is overweight against its showing of 40% in the elections. The Daily Maverick describes the bloated Cabinet as 'a gargantuan government after South Africans voted their unhappiness by not giving any party a majority and when there’s been a lot of support for cutting rather than growing the executive'. It has grown to 32 members (from 30) and there are now 43 Deputy Ministers (from 36). By global standards, this is a large government. Each Minister has a staff of about 10, while deputies have a slightly smaller staff.

Full Daily Maverick report

Full News24 report