Ramaphosa set to announce cabinet reshuffle on Monday

President Cyril Ramaphosa will finally announce his much-anticipated new cabinet at 7pm on Monday, his spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said on Sunday.

This followed extensive comment on social media about the fact that Ramaphosa did not announce a new cabinet as it was rumoured he would do on Thursday evening due to a common cold, but was able to attend a private dinner on Friday night before the Ankole cattle auction at his Phala Phala estate in Limpopo.

Magwenya said that, “contrary to media reports”, there had been no plan for the president to announce changes to his cabinet on Thursday.

The media had reported that Ramaphosa had cancelled the announcement and meetings with ANC officials at the last minute on Thursday, as doctors ordered him to rest.

Magwenya said the speculation had been unwarranted and that the date of the cattle auction was “scheduled a number of months ago.

“The accusations and misinformation we’ve seen around this matter are, therefore, completely unjustified.

“While he is still nursing his common cold, the president is finalising his reconfiguration of the national executive,” he said, saying Ramaphosa had been consulting ANC members.

“The president is fully committed to his oath of office and the day-to-day tasks of leading the nation out of the difficulties we face.”

Commitment

He quoted a line from Ramaphosa’s February state of the nation address to defend the president’s commitment to leading SA: “The people of SA want action, they want solutions. And they want the government to work for them.

“This is exactly the president’s attitude as he goes about his work day and night,” Magwenya added.

He also defended the president, saying he merely greeted guests on Friday night and “did not attend the auction itself the following day, as his cold persisted”.

He said Ramaphosa had, in fact, attended to his presidential duties, even as it was visible he was sick, when meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday.

“Furthermore, there have been parliamentary processes, such as the swearing in of certain MPs that the president needed to take account of while he is finalising the formation of the executive.”

Last week, finance minister Enoch Godongwana was sworn in as an MP, allowing for a non-MP to be appointed to the cabinet.

This was a sign that the president’s cabinet announcement was imminent.

Ramaphosa needs to make space for a new cabinet minister, who is not an MP, as by law he can only have two ministers who are not MPs in national executive positions.

Magwenya said the president appreciated appointing a cabinet that would work “for faster growth through our investment drive, economic reforms, public employment programmesand expanding infrastructure programmes”.

childk@businesslive.co.za