Crowds throng the Union Buildings in
Pretoria during President Jacob Zuma’s
inauguration on Saturday 9 May 2009.
(Image: The Presidency. Click here to see
more inauguration photos.)
Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s new president, has announced a new structure to his governing cabinet, with a some departments split in two, others renamed or newly created, and a number of new or redeployed ministers and deputy ministers.
The most significant of the cabinet changes, announced a day after Zuma’s inauguration on 9 May, is the creation of the new National Planning Commission (NPC), to be headed by former finance minister Trevor Manuel.
With 15 years in parliament, Manuel is one of South Africa’s longest-serving MPs. He is widely respected across the world, having headed up the International Monetary Fund’s committee to investigate the body’s decision-making policy and helped reform the country’s shambolic apartheid-era finances and economic policies.
As one of two new ministers in the presidency, Manuel’s new position as head of the NPC will see him guiding strategic planning for South Africa to create a single national plan to which all spheres of government would adhere. The idea of the commission came from research on international models on how other governments plan and monitor performance.
“This would enable us to take a more comprehensive view of socioeconomic development in the country,“ Zuma said in his announcement.
Manuel’s fellow minister in the presidency is Collins Chabane, who will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the performance of all three spheres of government – national, provincial and local.
“There will therefore be two ministers in the presidency, one responsible for the NPC and the other for monitoring and evaluation as well as administration in the presidency,” Zuma said.
The new minister replacing Manuel in the finance department is Pravin Gordhan, the former head of the South African Revenue Service (Sars), while Nhlanhla Nene stays on as deputy minister of finance.
During Gordhan’s 10 years at the head of Sars he was responsible for increasing the organisation’s efficiency to the extent that revenue collection picked up dramatically. He has also been elected chair of the Council of World Customs Organisation four times. While he is not an MP, the law allows for the president to appoint two ministers, and two deputy ministers, from outside parliament.
Zuma’s deputy president is to be Kgalema Motlanthe, who served as caretaker president for the eight months between the recall of Thabo Mbeki in September 2008 and Zuma’s inauguration.
Motlanthe, who is also deputy president of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), takes over from Baleka Mbete, who has left government and will instead work at the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg.
With an involvement in the antiapartheid struggle going back to the 1970s, Motlanthe has a background in unionism, was imprisoned on Robben Island for 10 years – like Zuma – and was elected secretary-general of the ANC in 1992.
Toyo Sexwale, former Gauteng premier, businessman and host of the South African version of The Apprentice television series, is to head the new Department of Human Settlements, which replaces the former housing department and is expected to take a more “holistic” view.
Sexwale’s involvement in the struggle against apartheid also goes back to the 1970s. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island and only freed with the end of apartheid in the early 1990s.
Appointed premier of Gauteng in 1994, he left politics for business in 1998, forming the Mvelapanda Group, a black economic empowerment consortium listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. He also serves on the board of the 2010 Fifa World Cup Organising Committee.
Another significant appointment is that of Blade Nzimande, secretary-general of the South African Communist Party, as minister of the new higher education department. Also, pro-labour unionist Ebrahim Patel is to head the new Department of Economic Development.
Zuma has also included opposition politician Peter Mulder in his cabinet. The head of minority party Freedom Front Plus, which represents a largely white and Afrikaner constituency, Mulder is to be the deputy minister of the new Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
The representation of women in the cabinet is 42%, with 14 female ministers and 12 deputy ministers.
New departments
Departments that have been split in two include:
- The former Department of Minerals and Energy, which becomes separate departments of mining and of energy
- The Department of Education becomes the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education and Training
- The Department of Agriculture becomes the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism falls away, with tourism becoming a single department and the environment falling under the new Department of Water and Environmental Affairs. The former Department of Water Affairs and Forestry also disappears, with forestry now part of the broader agriculture department.
New and renamed departments include:
- The Department of Human Settlements, which in replacing the Department of Housing is expected to take on a more “holistic” focus
- The Department of Economic Development, established to focus on economic policymaking, while implementation functions remain with the Department of Trade and Industry
- The Department of Provincial and Local Government becomes the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
- The Department of Foreign Affairs becomes the Department of International Relations and Cooperation
- The Department of Intelligence becomes the Department of State Security
- The new Department of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disability
The full cabinet
Deputy president: Kgalema Motlanthe
The rest of the cabinet, in alphabetical order:
1. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Minister: Tina Joemat-Peterson
Deputy minister: Pieter Mulder
2. Arts and Culture
Minister: Lulu Xingwana
Deputy minister: Paul Mashatile
3. Basic Education
Minister: Angie Motshekga
Deputy minister: Enver Surty
4. Communications
Minister: Siphiwe Nyanda
Deputy minister: Dina Pule
5. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Minister: Sicelo Shiceka
Deputy minister: Yunus Carrim
6. Correctional Services
Minister: Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
Deputy minister: Hlengiwe Mkhize
7. Defence and Military Veterans
Minister: Lindiwe Sisulu
Deputy minister: Thabang Makwetla
8. Economic Development
Minister: Ebrahim Patel
Deputy minister: Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde
9. Energy
Minister: Dipuo Peters
10. Finance
Minister: Pravin Gordhan
Deputy minister: Nhlanhla Nene
11. Health
Minister: Aaron Motsoaledi
Deputy minister: Molefi Sefularo
12. Higher Education and Training
Minister: Blade Nzimande
13. Home Affairs
Minister: Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Deputy minister: Malusi Gigaba
14. Human Settlements
Minister: Tokyo Sexwale
Deputy minister: Zou Kota
15. International Relations and Cooperation
Minister: Maite Nkoana-Mashabane
Deputy ministers: Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim and Sue van der Merwe
16. Justice and Constitutional Development
Minister: Jeff Radebe
Deputy minister: Andries Nel
17. Labour
Minister: Membathisi Mdladlana
18. Mining
Minister: Susan Shabangu
19. Police
Minister: Nathi Mthethwa
Deputy minister: Fikile Mbalula
20. Public Enterprises
Minister: Barbara Hogan
Deputy minister: Enoch Godongwana
21. Public Service and Administration
Minister: Richard Baloyi
Deputy minister: Roy Padayachie
22. Public Works
Minister: Geoff Doidge
Deputy minister: Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu
23. Rural Development and Land Reform
Minister: Gugile Nkwinti
Deputy minister: Joe Phaahla
24. Science and Technology
Minister: Naledi Pandor
Deputy minister: Derek Hanekom
25. Social Development
Minister: Edna Molewa
Deputy minister: Bathabile Dlamini
26. Sport and Recreation
Minister: Makhenkesi Stofile
Deputy minister: Gert Oosthuizen
27. State Security
Minister: Siyabonga Cwele
28. The Presidency – National Planning Commission
Minister: Trevor Manuel
29. The Presidency – Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, and Administration
Minister: Collins Chabane
30. Tourism
Minister: Marthinus van Schalkwyk
Deputy minister: Thozile Xasa
31. Trade and Industry
Minister: Rob Davies
Deputy ministers: Thandi Tobias and Maria Ntuli
32. Transport
Minister: Sbusiso Joel Ndebele
Deputy minister: Jeremy Cronin
33. Water and Environmental Affairs
Minister: Buyelwa Sonjica
Deputy minister: Rejoice Mabhudafhasi
34. Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities
Minister: Noluthando Mayende Sibiya
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