- Your GNU cabinet
- Outgoing ministers
- Parliament chairs
- Your Questions Answered
- Webinars
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- Your GNU cabinet
- Outgoing ministers
- Parliament chairs
- Your Questions Answered
- Webinars
- News
Who is in your unity Cabinet
The outgoing ministers
Who's out, who's demoted?
Ferial Haffajee answers some of your government of national unity (GNU) questions
Is this the largest Cabinet in the world?
It’s one of the largest. China’s is bigger. But South Africa’s Cabinet is larger than those in the UK, Canada and India, which have 25 to 30 members (ours has 32), as does Brazil.
How many of the old RET faction have been removed from the ANC?
ANC officials say the “patrimonial” wing of the party (the State Capture or RET faction) has largely left to form MK. That may be true, but the architect of capture, Malusi Gigaba, whom the State Capture Commission found to have used at least three Cabinet positions he held to favour the Gupta network, remains an ANC member of Parliament.
Also, the ANC MP and former health minister Zweli Mkhize, who resigned in the wake of a corruption scandal related to the Digital Vibes company, was this week made chairperson of the portfolio committee that considers the state of local government.
Do deputy ministers have power?
It depends on whether the ministers delegate sufficient areas of work and responsibility to them. This week, I saw photographs of Communications Minister Solly Malatsi (DA) and his deputy (and former minister) Mondli Gungubele sitting and planning together. The public image they have sought to portray is of unity and mutuality. That’s how it should be. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and his deputy, David Masondo, have always got on well, with a true partnership evident. Now they have a new partner in the DA’s Ashor Sarupen, who is second deputy. Here’s his biography from our Under-45 feature of young political leaders.
Was it a strategic move for the ANC to work with smaller parties at the expense of MK and EFF?
Yes, especially at the expense of MK. The ANC tried until the last moment to bring the EFF into the unity government. The EFF refused to participate unless the ANC broke ties with the DA and the Freedom Front Plus.
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