President Cyril Ramaphosa’s prerogative to appoint two cabinet ministers from beyond the somnolent benches of the ANC in parliament may give false hope to those banking on fresh perspectives in the executive. They should curb their enthusiasm because the chances of Ramaphosa bringing in able people unencumbered by the effects of ANC ideological rigidity and factional paralysis are low.
The provision for two non-MP cabinet ministers dates back to former president Nelson Mandela amending the constitution to allow him to appoint former Nedcor CEO Chris Liebenberg as finance minister after the shock early exit of Derek Keys. In that instance, Mandela looked beyond the party’s narrow interests and used the appointment shrewdly, to keep investors and the markets onside in the first years of democratic transition.
Fast-forward nearly three decades, and the emergency SA faces is as pressing as in 1994, except now it is electricity and Eskom. The swearing-in of finance minister Enoch Godongwana as an MP means at least one of the two cabinet posts that can be held by a non-MP, one of which he occupied, is now vacant. This clears the way for the new minister of electricity to be named at last.
Mavericks need not apply. Given how the ANC has been burnt by the André de Ruyter exit affair, it is unlikely Ramaphosa will look far beyond the relative safety of the party’s ranks. This is a pity. It suggests the new minister will be loath to rock the boat at Eskom and possibly upset the two ministers at the forefront of the crisis, Pravin Gordhan and Gwede Mantashe.
If that is so, an opportunity to bring in fresh, nonideological perspectives will have been squandered in the interest of keeping the cabinet at peace and the factions in line.
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