ANC deputy president David Mabuza and party national chair Gwede Mantashe appeared before the party's integrity commission on Friday evening in a last-ditch attempt to clear their names ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement of his new cabinet.
Mabuza's availability for the position of SA's deputy president has been the subject of much speculation since he asked the party to postpone his swearing-in as an MP until the integrity commission has cleared his name.
Mabuza subsequently approached the commission and requested to meet them on Friday. They agreed and Mabuza - known as The Cat in ANC circles because of his political survival skills, including surviving a poisoning incident - is believed to have defended himself against a report that flagged him as having questionable integrity.
Ramaphosa was yesterday inaugurated as SA's fifth democratically elected president in front of a crowd of 30,000, including African heads of state and other dignitaries at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Tshwane. He is expected to announce his cabinet tomorrow.
DILEMMA
In his speech, Ramaphosa did not drop a hint about how his cabinet will look, instead using the first address of his term to call for unity. "Despite our differences, despite a past of conflict and division and bitterness, despite the fierce political contestation among 48 political parties in recent months, we share the same hopes and fears, the same anxieties and aspirations," he said.
The Sunday Times understands that Ramaphosa is facing a dilemma, trying to decide the position of deputy president - and what to do with two of his senior and trusted ministers, Mantashe and Pravin Gordhan.
On Friday the public protector said Gordhan had violated the constitution in a matter related to the approval of former South African Revenue Service commissioner Ivan Pillay's early retirement.
It remains unclear whether Ramaphosa will take the risk of appointing Mabuza and Mantashe before they are cleared by the integrity commission. Nor is it clear whether Gordhan will make the cut despite the adverse finding by the public protector...