President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce members of his new executive cabinet this evening.
This comes nearly over two weeks after Ramaphosa was sworn into office for a second term following the May 29 elections and his elections by members of the National Assembly on June 14.
According to the Presidency: “The new National Executive will constitute the 7th Democratic Administration as a Government of National Unity comprising a diversity of political parties.”
The announcement will be broadcast live at 9pm Central African Time.
PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA TO ANNOUNCE NEW NATIONAL EXECUTIVE
President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce a new National Executive this evening, 30 June 2024.
The announcement – which will be in the form of a televised address to the nation – follows the inauguration of President…
— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) June 30, 2024
Meanwhile, political analyst Dr Levy Ndou says it is crucial for parties to accept and support Ramaphosa’s decisions on the Cabinet.
“Whatever decision he (Ramaphosa) takes should be respected by everyone. The minute you decide to be a participant in the Government of National Unity does not necessarily mean that the Constitution has to be thrown away. So the powers that were given to this individual is that he should exercise his prerogative in appointing cabinet ministers and because you respect the Constitution, that exactly what one would expect from everyone who is part of the GNU,” he says.
However, the Citizen’s Forum has rejected the notion that the proposal to form a Government of National Unity represents the will of the people.
Former MP and member of the Citizen Forum Dennis Bloem says, “Political parties must stop spreading the lie that the people of this country have said they must start working together. It is a blue lie. At no stage did the voters say that to them. This is a betrayal of the votes for the people and a betrayal of the people of South Africa.”
He adds, “During the elections, individual political parties campaigned on their own to garner support. The ANC got 40% of the votes. We cannot understand why the ANC cannot put up a majority government. The DA and small opposition parties are only interested in going into this government of national unity to get ministerial positions. It is totally unacceptable that the mandate of the people is being twisted.” –Additional reporting by Mercedes Besent
