On Thursday March 30 President Jacob Zuma made 20 changes (10 ministers and 10 deputy ministers) to his national executive. It is the 11th time he has reshuffled the executive, since his first national executive in May 2009.
The following graphic tracks all changes to the national executive since President Zuma first assumed office.
From it, and based on his latest reshuffle, the following facts can be drawn:
• Zuma is currently overseeing his 11th different Cabinet and national executive.
• In total, since 2009, Zuma has made 126 changes to the national executive: 62 changes to ministerial positions, 63 changes to deputy ministerial positions and one change to the deputy presidency.
• The current national executive (all ministers and deputy ministers), last restructured on March 30 2017, stands at 74 people. It includes the president, the deputy president, 35 ministers and 37 deputy ministers.
• The Cabinet alone (just the president, deputy president and ministers) has 37 people.
• By comparison, Zuma’s first national executive, in 2009, consisted of 64 people — the president, deputy president, 33 ministers and 29 deputy ministers.
• The number of changes for each reshuffle is as follows:
— Second executive: 26 changes
— Third executive: nine changes
— Fourth executive: eight changes
— Fifth executive: two changes
— Sixth executive: nine changes
— Seventh executive: 47 changes
— Eighth executive: two changes
— Ninth executive: one change
— Tenth executive: two changes
— Eleventh executive: 20 changes
• The period each of the 10 Cabinets lasted before being reshuffled is as follows:
— First: 13 months
— Second: 12 months
— Third: Eight months
— Fourth: Five months
— Fifth: 10 months
— Sixth: 11 months
— Seventh: 18 months
— Eighth: Two months
— Ninth: Five days
— Tenth: 16 months
• Thus, the average length of a Cabinet under Zuma, before it is reshuffled, is just under 8.6 months.
• The longest a Cabinet has remained unchanged was the seventh, just after the 2014 elections, which lasted 18 months. The shortest was just five days, when the decision to remove Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene caused massive volatility and damage to local markets.
• Of Zuma’s first national executive, only 11 people (highlighted in green on the green and orange bar in the graphic) have retained the position they occupied in 2009, including the president, without any change over that period.
• Seven of those 11 are ministers. They are Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande, International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti, and Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies.
• Using the original total of 33 ministers in the national executive, that is a retention rate of 21% for ministers. If one uses the current number of ministers (35), the retention rate drops to 20%.
• By comparison, 11 of the 28 ministers former president Thabo Mbeki appointed at the beginning of his first administration were in the same position at the end of his second administration. That is a retention rate for ministers of just under 40%.
• Those 11 do not include Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor, who is in the same positions today she occupied in 2009, but who was reshuffled in the interim.
• Of the 64 people in Zuma’s original national executive, 53 (or 83%) have been reshuffled.
• Of those 53 people reshuffled, 39 (or 74% — highlighted in orange in the green and orange bar in the graphic) are no longer part of the current national executive. Thirteen people who were part of the original national executive currently still serve on it, only in different positions.
• Only one department, basic education, has retained the same minister and deputy minister since 2009.
• Two departments, public service and administration, and communications, have each had six different ministers since 2009 (see column highlighted in yellow).
• The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has been home to five different ministers.
• During Zuma’s first five-year term, up to but not including his new national executive after the 2014 elections, he oversaw six different executives and made 54 changes. Since 2014, he has made an additional 72 changes but the vast majority of those (47) were in establishing an executive for his second term, after the 2014 elections.
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