President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a new electricity minister on Monday in an attempt to resolve the Eskom crisis and load shedding. President Ramaphosa also appointed his elite allies as the governing African National Congress (ANC) gears up for the 2024 general elections.
The appointment of Paul Mashatile was an expected political move. Paul became South Africa's 9th deputy president after the resignation of David Mabuza last week. Mr. Mashatile will be Ramaphosa's running mate in next year's election in what is anticipated to be the toughest political test for ANC candidates and the entire organisation.
Gwede Mantashe and Pravin Ghordhan retained their cabinet posts. Despite the creation of a new ministry responsible for electricity, Mantashe will continue to serve South Africans in his capacity as Minister of Mining and Energy and Pravin Ghordhan is expected to lead the Public Enterprise ministry with the exception of the struggling state power company, Eskom. Another key Ramaphosa ally, Enoch Gongongwana will continue to manage the national purse as Finance Minister.
President Ramaphosa said the cabinet reshuffle was meant to rope in new skills but there is surely nothing new about Minister Gwede Mantashe, Bheki Cele and Pravin Ghordhan. Mantashe and Ghordhan are at the centre of the power cuts problem that is being experienced South Africa today. The reshuffle was a political rearrangement strategy of employment conditions for ANC deployees. A move that is likely to benefit President Ramaphosa in next year's election.
Contrary to a commitment made in 2019 to reduce the number of cabinet ministers, Ramaphosa chose to augment his executive team by a further two ministries. The minister of electricity and that of planning, monitoring and evaluation will add an additional R74m to the public wage bill. It is unfathomable that the president can push this cost onto ordinary taxpayers while the nation languish under sluggish economic growth.
There are people like Nathi Mthethwa and Lindiwe Sisulu who didn't retain their portfolios. Sisulu was fired as tourism minister and Ramaphosa replaced her with Patricia De Lille who was moved from the portfolio of public works and infrastructure. The reshuffle exercise is commendable, it is okay to rotate leadership positions but the leaders must be held accountable.
Cabinet ministers should deliver results and in cases where they fail to fulfill their mandate, they should be held accountable by parliament whose role is oversight. In the meantime, South Africans have their hopes tied around the new electricity minister.
@JSimangO