President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plans to reshuffle the cabinet soon are gaining momentum after finance minister Enoch Godongwana was sworn in as an MP — a move largely viewed as making way for the appointment of a minister of electricity.
Godongwana — who was appointed in 2021 as former finance minister Tito Mboweni’s replacement — is one of two nonparliamentary cabinet members, the other being trade, industry and competition minister Ebrahim Patel. By law, the president is permitted to appoint a maximum of two people to his executive who are not MPs.
Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, confirmed that ANC MP Mike Basopu from the Eastern Cape resigned on Monday. That left a vacancy within the ANC’s parliamentary caucus, paving way for Godongwana to be sworn in.
The finance minister’s swearing in as an MP will pave the way for Ramaphosa to appoint the new minister of electricity, which is widely expected to be the president’s head of infrastructure Kgosientso Ramokgopa, who is not on the ANC’s parliamentary list.
Godongwana has not responded to queries yet.
The move to make Godongwana an MP is another signal that Ramaphosa is ready to reshuffle his cabinet.
At the weekend, Business Day reported that the president held consultations with ANC alliance partners Cosatu and the SACP regarding his plans to make changes to the executive.
Constitutionally, appointments to the national executive are the sole prerogative of the president but, through a clearly explained process and record, Ramaphosa’s decisions have to be rational and put the national interest above all else.
Because Ramaphosa is elected on a party ticket in SA’s parliamentary democracy, he has to — at the very least — inform the alliance of his plans.
ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile is expected to take the reins from deputy president David Mabuza, who has previously publicly indicated his intention to resign as second-in-command of the country.
Earlier in February, Mashatile, along with former KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng premier Sihle Zikalala, former Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau, and recently elected ANC second deputy secretary-general Maropene Ramokgopa, were sworn in as ANC MPs, a necessary step if any of them is to join the cabinet.
The addition of a minister of electricity located in the presidency, together with the departments of mineral resources and energy and public enterprises, will mean there will be three ministries managing the electricity sector.
The announcement of the additional minister is part of the laundry list of interventions by the government to ease the energy crisis including declaring a national state of disaster, which came into effect last week.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.