Political analyst Professor Sethulego Matebesi says he is disappointed that President Cyril Ramaphosa failed to fulfill one of his original promises before he took up leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), which was to reduce the size of the Cabinet and national executive.
Ramaphosa has announced 32 Ministers and 43 Deputy Ministers for the 7th democratic administration, under a Government of National Unity (GNU) agreement with 10 other political parties.
This will be the first time in the country’s democracy that the national executive comprises of a combined leadership of members from 9 different political parties.
Matebesi says the merging and separation of certain ministries was politically motivated.
“No, it was not an appropriate decision to increase the national executive. I am of the view that some of the decisions were made to accommodate some parties in the GNU. But this will affect the state fiscus negatively. I don’t think our economy will be boosted due to the setup of this new national executive.”
Matebesi adds the crux of the matter is confirmation that politics and positions have taken priority over the urgency of addressing residents’ grievances.
“Political party leaders always mention that they are for the people whenever they speak on public platforms, but we know that in politics it is all about positions because of benefits associated with such.”
“That is very disappointing. Even when you consider the time it took to finalise the agreement on key positions within the national executive. This shows you that everyone was eyeing what they could walk away with. Not necessarily how they could contribute to resolving citizens’ challenges,” adds Matebesi.
–Reporting by Kelebogile Kgetse
