Home PodcastJulie Alli Ramaphosa needs to get cabinet reshuffle right

Ramaphosa needs to get cabinet reshuffle right

by Luqmaan Rawat
The president will have to make sure he gets the cabinet reshuffle right if he is to keep the country on his side Photo Moneyweb

South Africa – President Cyril Ramaphosa is being urged by those close to him to reshuffle the cabinet before he delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) next month. However, it seems Ramaphosa will only do so once the party and government process have been completed, which could take until early February.

South Africa is in rocky waters at the moment. The economy needs to be saved and stability needs to be returned to this ship. The cabinet reshuffle is one of extreme importance. It will also show what the president is made of, explained Prof. Kedibone Phago, Professor and Director in the School of Government Studies, North West University.

“We think now he should really be able to show what he is made of. We are in a position where our economy is not really performing very well, there are problems at Eskom. The youth unemployment which is just completely abnormal. So there are really a myriad of issues that we need to consider and of course the president must pay attention to when changing his cabinet for the benefit of the country.”

 

Getting the cabinet reshuffle right

Ramaphosa will be hoping to get the cabinet reshuffle right the first time and stamp his authority. However, his allegiance does not lie with the country and so he fails to listen to reasonable voices, said Phago. Civil society, academia and organisations need to unite and ensure the right people get brought in.

“The politics of the ANC makes it really difficult to pay attention to reasonable voices that come from the various sectors of society. We need to unite as one to craft an agenda that will really pressurise the president. His challenge is to please the ANC at the same time pleasing the country. That is going to be a very difficult task.”

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Putting the country before the party

Ramaphosa has been accused of putting the party before the country on multiple occasions. It is now time for Ramaphosa to pick those who can lead and build and not just those who voted him in. The complex problems require people from the ANC that can understand them, said Phago.

“The president is going to struggle to put his cabinet together. He is being limited by the election of those NEC members. So those 80 people are largely his base for appointment of people. He doesn’t really have a lot of material if we really want to be a little bit more critical of what the ANC has to offer to itself as a leadership collective.”

With so many major issues plaguing South Africa, it is vital for Ramaphosa to get this cabinet reshuffle right. The politics of the ANC must be put aside for the future of this country. It is time for Ramaphosa to put the accusations to rest and put the country before the party.

 

To find out who Prof.Kedibone Phago believes should stay and who should go, listen to the podcast here 

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