Sunday Times Politics Weekly

PODCAST | Ramaphosa’s cabinet reshuffle was to please ANC, not the country

Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa may also not call the shots, but Mantashe and Gordhan might

10 March 2023 - 05:50
By Mike Siluma
President Cyril Ramaphosa and his deputy Paul Mashatile.
Image: Sandile Ndlovu/File President Cyril Ramaphosa and his deputy Paul Mashatile.

The recent cabinet reshuffle was not intended to address South Africa's crises but to satisfy ANC factions. And Gwede Mantashe and Pravin Gordhan will call the shots regarding electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

Listen to the podcast:

The two ministers, Mantashe (energy) and Gordhan (public enterprises), might overpower the new electricity minister who was brought in to deal with the ongoing load-shedding crisis.

The president moved incompetent ministers around to make party factions happy, therefore undermining performance.

Those are some of the arguments in Sunday Times Politics Weekly this week as Prof William Gumede of Wits School of Governance joins host Mike Siluma.

Ramaphosa finally made the much-anticipated changes, including appointing Paul Mashatile as deputy president, on Monday night, but Gumede says the president missed some great opportunities. He believes Mashatile has one foot in the Presidency, as Ramaphosa may not finish his term.

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