Defend Truth

THE SHUFFLE

David Mabuza a Cabinet Lekgotla no-show as his deputy president tenure reaches its twilight 

David Mabuza a Cabinet Lekgotla no-show as his deputy president tenure reaches its twilight 
Deputy President David Mabuza faces a cabinet reshuffle in which he will be replaced as Deputy President. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)

Mabuza did not attend on Thursday owing to a family bereavement, according to his office, amid a looming reshuffle where he will be supplanted from his position. 

The office of the deputy president told Daily Maverick that David Mabuza is dealing with a family bereavement and will not be attending the two-day Cabinet Lekgotla. 

“Deputy President David Mabuza has tendered his apology for the Cabinet Lekgotla taking place from 2nd and 3rd February 2023 due to a family bereavement. The Deputy President lost his brother and is engaged with preparations for the funeral,” a brief statement from his office said. 

Mabuza was also not present at the ANC Lekgotla which took place last week where the governing party was discussing key policy. 

The country has been on tenterhooks as President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce changes to his executive. Recently-elected ANC second-in-command Paul Mashatile is due to be sworn in as an MP, paving the way to replace Mabuza.

Mabuza was not re-elected as the party’s Deputy President at the ANC’s  national conference in December 2022 nor was he able to garner enough support to be part of the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC). 

The outgoing Deputy President is said to have already told Ramaphosa of his imminent resignation which is supposed to be formalised after the Cabinet Lekgotla. 

Sihle Zikalala

KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance MEC Sihle Zikalala. (Photo: Gallo Images / Darren Stewart)


Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations


KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance MEC Sihle Zikalala will also be sworn in as an MP while murmurs persist about the possibility of former Gauteng Economic Development MEC Parks Tau also being given a position in the national executive. Tau has already been replaced as the Gauteng legislature finance committee chairperson. The ANC’s Mpapa Kanyane will be the acting chairperson effective from 1 February. 

Present at the lekgotla were Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, both of whom are speculated to be dropped from Ramaphosa’s cabinet. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa, David Mabuza

President Cyril Ramaphosa chairing Cabinet Lekgotla, held at Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House, Pretoria on 2 February 2023. (Photo: Jairus Mmutle/GCIS)

Other ministers who were present and could also face the axe after failing to be elected into the ANC’s NEC,  include State Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor and Sports Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa. 

Speaking to the media at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele could not be drawn about the specifics around the reshuffle. Instead, he insisted that it is the President’s prerogative to decide who will be hired and fired.

The minister did however outline what would be discussed during the lekgotla. On the agenda is the energy crisis and discussion around the economy. 

“We will be looking at the energy crisis, issues of crime, issues of triple challenge…So this Cabinet Lekgotla is going to spend a lot of time analysing our performance and then answering questions around the key programmes that can actually make a difference in a short space of time,” he said.  DM

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

  • Brian Van Der Vijver says:

    The cat and the hat. With a bit of luck, they will both disappear.

  • Timothy Fearnhead says:

    Disgraceful to see that the news clip after this one is of a Ukrainian block of flats being hit by Russian missiles. The whole government should be ashamed, and the state of disaster is really one of a country being run (into the ground ) by a shameless, incompetent, bunch of hoods in suits that do not know , or care how to fix anything. Very depressing given the skills that we do have available in SA .

  • If countering corruption is not prioritised, nothing constructive will emerge from cabinet

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.