South Africa’s biggest labor-union group, COSATU, has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to cut the size of his bloated cabinet to 26 ministers and a maximum of six deputies, and should exclude anyone implicated in graft known as state capture.
Ramaphosa, aged 66, who currently has 34 ministers and 35 deputies, has said the size of the cabinet will be trimmed but has not said which posts would go or who he planned to appoint.
The expected appointments would be the next big step for investors watching for signs Ramaphosa could follow through on promises to revitalise the economy and clean out the government after a series of scandals during his predecessor Jacob Zuma’s presidency.
Ramaphosa is due to be sworn in for a five-year presidential term on 25 May, following the ruling African National Congress’ victory in last week’s election, and could name his new cabinet a day or two later.
While the president has the prerogative to choose his executive, he would typically consult with the ANC’s other top leaders and the party’s political allies — the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party.
A number of interest groups have been lobbying over key posts, but Cosatu should be among those with the most sway since it was instrumental in helping Ramaphosa win control of the ANC in late 2017 — paving the way for him to replace Zuma as president two months later.
While Ramaphosa, who is a former union leader himself, fired a number of Zuma’s ministers who had been implicated in graft after taking office, several others kept their posts.
“We told the president we don’t want a legalistic approach that those who have not been found guilty” keep their posts. “We simply cannot afford to have a cabinet of compromised characters any longer if we are going to be able to fix the state,” the union said.
NM/as/APA