There will be several vacancies in the Cabinet now, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said on Monday. “The president can either choose to just fill these posts or take advantage of the vacancies to have a more complete reshuffle.” Ramaphosa needs to accelerate the pace of reforms to bolster slow growth and improve the ANC’s appeal to voters. Perhaps Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who publicly criticized the president earlier this year, and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who also broke ranks at the elective conference, might find themselves at a loose end in 2023. – Sandra Laurence

Ramaphosa Victory in South African Party Vote Clears Way for Cabinet Reshuffle

By S’thembile Cele and Paul Vecchiatto

Cyril Ramaphosa’s victory in the race to lead South Africa’s governing party clears the way for him to overhaul his cabinet and intensify reforms needed to reinvigorate the flagging economy.

Ramaphosa, 70, secured a second five-year term at the party’s helm after comfortably beating rival Zweli Mkhize, a former health minister. The president had considered quitting earlier this month after an independent panel denounced his handling of the theft of foreign currency that had been stuffed in a sofa at his game farm, but later backtracked and denied any wrongdoing.

The rand gained as much as 2.8% on the news that Ramaphosa will retain his post and that the balance of power in the party’s top leadership structure had tilted in his favor. He’s faced calls to fire incompetent ministers and those opposed to his plans to transition the economy to green energy and open it up to more private investment.

“Ramaphosa’s clear win gives him greater room to reshuffle and even possibly reduce the size of cabinet,” Sanusha Naidu, an independent political analyst, said by phone from Cape Town. “A cabinet reshuffle is urgent and the sooner he does it the better it will be for him to carry out his economic policies.”

Among the cabinet changes Ramaphosa has to make is to fill the public services portfolio, which has been vacant since Ayanda Dlodlo left the post last year to take up a position at the World Bank. There will also be a vacancy in the transport department because Minister Fikile Mbalula was elected to the full-time position of ANC secretary-general. 

Deputy President David Mabuza could also lose his post to Paul Mashatile, who replaced him as the ANC’s deputy leader.

“If I am deputy president of the ANC, I think it will be better to go and assist in government,” Mashatile said in an interview before the party vote. “The challenge is that there is an incumbent, which complicates matters.”

President’s Critics

Ramaphosa may also face pressure to remove Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who publicly criticized the president earlier this year, and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who called for his resignation over the cash-in-sofa scandal, said Lukhona Mnguni, a Johannesburg-based political analyst.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has decided not to run for a position on the National Executive Committee, and may also be replaced.

“There will now be several vacancies in cabinet,” Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said in a phone interview on Monday. “The president can either choose to just fill these posts or take advantage of the vacancies to have a more complete reshuffle.”

Ramaphosa needs to accelerate the pace of reforms to bolster anemic growth and improve the ANC’s appeal to voters. Support for the 110-year-old party dropped below 50% for the first time in a local government vote last year, a backlash against rampant unemployment, inequality and crime. It has also faced mounting criticism over its failure to halt ongoing blackouts and several opinion polls show it’s in danger of losing its national majority in 2024.

“The biggest threat to the ANC’s electoral support is the energy crisis,” Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said in an interview. “The outcomes of the conference will help the ANC to have a united organization that will speak in one voice on this particular matter” on how best to transition away from using coal to generate energy, he said.

Read more:

• President Ramaphosa’s re-election brings continuity, stability, policy certainty – Mteto Nyati
• Ramaphosa doesn’t have excuses any more – TK Pooe, Wits School of Governance
• Ramaphosa wins ruling party leadership race

–With assistance from Amogelang Mbatha.

© 2022 Bloomberg L.P.