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| President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his cabinet reshuffling on Monday Image: Sowetan Live |
The new cabinet members are causing horrid reactions from state members and other experts
President Cyril Ramaphosa reshuffled his Cabinet on Monday and formally named Paul Mashatile as his deputy following the retirement of David Mabuza last week.
The president also named Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, a former Tshwane mayor and current head of infrastructure in the Presidency, as the next Minister of Electricity.
Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has been named to the Presidency's State Security post, succeeding Mondli Gungubele, who has moved to her role in communications.
Amid the reshuffling of the cabinet, Reuters recorded that South Africa's rand fell early Tuesday after President Cyril Ramaphosa named a new electricity minister to attempt to address the country's worst power outages on record, and added other associates to the cabinet before next year's elections.
The rand was trading at 18.2800 per dollar at 0705 GMT, 0.11% lower than its previous close.
President Cyril Ramaphosa's Cabinet change has been criticized as excessive bloating, revealing the ANC government's disconnect from residents' demands and issues.
DA Leader released a statement stating "It is simply unfathomable that the president can push this cost onto the South African taxpayer while the nation languishes under sluggish economic growth, the highest unemployment rate in recent history, and an electricity crisis that is shedding jobs at record numbers."
The Inkatha Freedom Party leader, Velenkosini Hlabisa stated "The ability and capacity are there and we hope that he will play a supportive role in dealing with load shedding. Reinforcement must be done at Eskom. This adds to the bloated Cabinet. What he should have done is to reinforce Eskom with the necessary manpower to bring an end to load shedding."
Build One SA Leader Mmusi Maimane had his stance on the matter. According to Maimane "The same rotten apples were shuffled from one post to another – the polar opposite of what was needed in a time of socio-economic crisis. As South Africans worry about the economy, crime, education, healthcare, and keeping the lights on, the president saw it fit to simply rearrange the employment conditions of old, out-of-touch ANC deployees in Cabinet, giving many people new roles to repeat old failures."
How will the newly appointed members help solve the country's socioeconomic issues?
