The sun still rose again this morning and for a couple of days after, in beautiful South Africa aka Mzansi, like any other day. In other words, it was business as usual. Luckily, I experienced no load shedding or water shedding (for some time now, water has been scarce in my area, and it comes and goes without any notice). I have found myself toing with the idea of either investing in a generator or solar panel lights or a Jojo tank. We’ve resorted to the latter as I prefer to have water for my son to bathe before he goes to school than to do so with lights on.

Having a smartphone with a flashlight, also comes in handy. This may seem small, but these are some of the many uncomfortable conversations in our land that we have somewhat turned into a norm. I now no longer keep track of the load shedding schedule or have a firm grip on the reasoning behind the various stages anymore. When lights go out, I just zone out and take it as it is. What concerns me, however, is how helpless many of the young people in this land are with prospects of a better future, be it in securing permanent employment after schooling, graduating or having access to post-school opportunities that may lead to skills development, empowerment and entrepreneurship. Not that there aren’t any such platforms but there is a general lack of the zeal for a better life ahead for South Africans and I think our government is not doing enough to inspire us otherwise.

On the weekend leading to the 6th of March 2023, there were rumours around a looming cabinet reshuffle, following the outcome of the 55th ANC elective conference in Nasrec, Johannesburg in December last year. This was almost three months back. Many analysts assumed the cabinet reshuffle would take place immediately afterwards, it didn’t. Some said, after the annual January 8th statement which was held in Mangaung in 2023 – still nothing. Thereafter, key members of the NEC addressed the public with claims that the President will address the nation ‘in due course’ over the cabinet reshuffle. So, on the weekend, it was reported that the President will address the nation on the cabinet reshuffle on Monday evening the 6th of March at 7pm.

This was as a result of the President ‘still applying his mind’ on the matter. And applying his mind on the evening he did. 7pm changed to 8pm, which then changed to 8:30pm. The address eventually began, not sure at what time though. I am sure many South Africans were glued to their screens, but I am also certain, many more could not be bothered. And can’t be blamed for that.

Luckily, the speech itself did not take too long but included the usually overview of why the cabinet reshuffle had to be done and outlining reasons including the need to fill vacant posts. Former Minister, Ayanda Dlodlo vacated her Public Service and Administration office in April 2022 when she took on a Directorship role at The World Bank, New York. This vacant department was then led by Minister Thulas Nxesi, together with the Department of Labour and Employment. How these two vital departments could be led effectively by one person for over 10 months, while there are Deputy Ministers appointed for both, beats me.

Our cabinet is now bloated, I can’t keep up with the number of departments we have in government, following the appointments by the president, with two new ministries introduced – Minister of the Presidency in Electricity and Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Evaluation and Monitoring. I am no political analyst, but I share in the sentiments of many who do not understand the significance behind the appointment of revered Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to sort out Eskom and its load shedding woes.

Twelve new deputy ministers alone were appointed to eleven new ministers with some departments having two deputies. These departments include Cooperative governance and traditional affairs (COGTA), water and sanitation and the Presidency. Why they had to be two deputy ministers for these departments, beats me as well. I still don’t know the reason behind having deputy ministers appointed in cabinet when a minister left in 2021 and there was a vacant position there, it was not given to the deputy, but another minister had to run two ministries concurrently. This refers to Minister Thulas Nxesi, who ran both the departments of Labour and Employment and Public Service and Administration after former Minister Ayanda Dlodlo resigned. Where were the deputy ministers in all of this?

Chess moves

Everyone waited with bated breath to find out what the president would do to his so called “detractors” who wanted him out of the position from within the ANC, these included Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (former COGTA minister) and Lindiwe Sisulu (Former Tourism minister) amongst many. I feel anyone who is contesting to be president of the ANC, in their cases, was well within their rights to use whatever tactic they could latch on to advance their political ladders in the organization. There is really no use in playing nice when there’s a lot at stake and within a war. The President also did not make the fighting any easier for himself with the Phala Phala farm scandal that’s been hanging around his head the whole time ever since. Opponents had to make the most of the opportunity and I found it refreshing to see disagreements from within the party, these were even public to some extent and not hidden in political electioneering. I thought the ruling party was embracing that and actively embodying democracy through these in-fights in December of 2022. Many within, it appears, did not take it as such and pressure since then has mounted for the president to reshuffle the cabinet and get rid of those who were not favour of him taking up a second term as the head of the ANC and the country. Talks of a cabinet reshuffle started as soon as the new ANC Top seven were elected, and this was back in December 2022 already. Why would there be calls for a cabinet reshuffle with a change in leadership? Is it not good for different people who hold different political ideology and thoughts to collaborate? What about consistency and seeing policy implementation throughout the term? Well, that’s clearly not the case for us. New leadership means, those who contributed to one’s rise, ought to be appreciated and rewarded with lucrative ministerial roles in cabinet.

Ministers in the country come with a fleet of benefits, all of which at the taxpayer’s cost. Two houses, luxurious cars, bodyguards, free water and electricity, status amongst many others including a handsome pay. The average South African retires from work at 60 years of age, while ministers can be appointed into roles at ages 60 and above. The President is 70 years old; the deputy is 61 years old while Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is 74 years old to mention only a few (These are correct at the time of posting this piece).  Granted, this does come with a wealth of knowledge and experience but why is this privilege not afforded to all South African but some? Even in some private companies, this privilege of returning to the world of work where earning a salary is concerned, is not afforded to all but a selected few. Cabinet ministers earn over R2 million rands per annum, according to a News24 article (https://www.news24.com/news24/bi-archive/government-salary-increases-see-deputy-ministers-mecs-make-r2-million-per-year-2022-6). I think the less said about this matter, the better.

Lindiwe Sisulu

In a classic move, Former Tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu (daughter of The Late struggle icon Walter Sisulu) was removed as minister and replaced with leader of The Good Party, Patricia De Lille. De Lille, who was heavily criticized for the poor border fence construction between South Africa and Zimbabwe at the Beit Bridge border while she was minister of Public Works (https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/no-findings-or-sanctions-against-officials-implicated-in-beitbridge-scandal-patricia-de-lille-20220425). Sisulu was at the forefront of publicly insisting that the president steps down as a result of the Phala Phala farm cloud and was also in the running to be the next ANC president.

The new Deputy President

With a newly configured ANC Top seven, there were calls around whether or not the president will appoint newly elected ANC Deputy Paul Mashatile into the role after former deputy president David Mabuza, vacated the office. It came as no surprise that Paul Mashatile got appointed by the president to the role after many conversations alluded to the fact that the President was not obliged to elect the ANC’s second in command and that it was likely that someone different could be appointed to the role. Well, to all our disappointment, that was not the case. We wait to see what impact he will play in the coming years as there has been very little done or implemented by the Deputy President’s office over the years. I guess his appointment is a classic one in the sense that he may be next in line to be president of the country and his appointed to the position is a move worth paying close attention to.

Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

When many waited to also hear the end to Dr Dlamini-Zuma’s reign in cabinet, even after she publicly went against the ANC on the vote of no confidence against the impeachment of the president in December 2022, she still survived but on thin ice. She was moved from the Cooperative Governance and Traditional affairs ministry, a ministry that took center stage during the declaration of a state of disaster following the COVID-19 pandemic, to the Department of Women, Youth and people living with disabilities. A department that was led by Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. This essentially marks the removal of Nkoana-Mashabane who has served as a minister in cabinet since 2009. I don’t recall what significant role this department has played in combating violence against women, progressing the strides of women in society overall and addressing youth and people living with disabilities challenges with regards to development issues and unemployment amongst the many matters of urgency it is tasked with addressing.

Lights on – In comes the new minister of electricity!

Then it is the new minister of electricity, as announced during the president’s State of The Nation (SONA) address this year, which sent the country on a spin. This ministry’s inclusion thus means the two ministries responsible for Eskom, a public state entity responsible for the generation of power in the country together with the department of mineral resources and energy (DMRE) have failed us on persistent load-shedding. Both ministers Gordhan and Mantashe still kept their positions. A thorny topic to every South African at the moment. Through the years, the occurrence of load-shedding has resulted in much distress and frustration to many people and businesses ranging from small to large and to unemployment at times. Load-shedding has taken a different route to load reduction and has seen its hours grow over the years, much to the distress of many. So, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, is now tasked with putting an end to load shedding, a phenomenon that the former Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter has warned it may not go anywhere anytime soon and that the worst of it is yet to come, after an explosive interview with ENCA recently that went viral (https://mg.co.za/business/2023-02-23-eskoms-andre-de-ruyter-leaves-with-immediate-after-damning-television-interview-about-anc-corruption/). I think it will be easy for us as a country to judge whether or not the new minister has succeeded in his new role or not, whether we agree or not that his inclusion or appointment was necessary. The 48-year-old Former Mayor of Tshwane and Member of the Gauteng Executive Council has a mammoth task ahead of him, but I do find faith in the fact that this gentleman comes with experience and expertise in the field to assist. I am also hoping that his PhD qualification comes in handy, and I wish him well. (Pity this can’t be said for Dr Makwarela from the city of Tshwane). We are not yet sure that the term of office will be for the minister of electricity. I am encouraged by his energy, as one of the relatively youngest in cabinet, maybe that will add to his favor. At least this appointment may signify that The President recognizes how frustrating load shedding is to the citizens and this is his way of attempting to do something about it. Whether or not this will be achieved, time will be ultimate judge. While we’re still on the Former Mayor of Tshwane, does anyone know who the current mayor of the capital city is? The back-and-forth tussle for the battle of mayorship in the capital city between the coalition governments is becoming a daily telenovela storyline.

Crime, other ills and some light

Crime statistics were released in the country recently for the second quarter of 2022, and they paint a bleak and shocking picture to say the least. To put it into context, Minister Bheki Cele revealed that 82 people are murdered a day in this country. Sexual assault rose up 1357 in the last quarter of 2022, directly related to 169 cases daily, according to the Mail and Guardian in the article – (https://mg.co.za/news/2023-02-17-crime-stats-violence-in-south-africa-is-getting-worse/). Granted, safety and crime in society takes a multitude of often complex and intersecting issues but surely the minister in charge ought to take some responsibility regarding the shocking statistics. We are nowhere close to cracking cases involving former Bafana Bafana Captain Senzo Meyiwa’s shooting. And although there’s a CCTV footage available, our cops have not yet made a breakthrough for the recent murder of rapper Kienan ‘AKA’ Forbes, who was shot execution-style outside a popular club in Durban last month. These are two of many cases where our cops are yet to close, many South Africans wait with bated breaths for positive outcomes or closures regarding the murders of their loved ones. Yet the current minister, responsible for our safety still kept his position. For the DMRE, it is now seven straight years later and the Lily Mine tragedy is nowhere from being closed. Three people are still trapped underground, in a container that collapsed into the ground during a break in stability pillar between the lower levels of the mine plunging the container deeper into the mine. Who has been held accountable for this, almost seven years later? Maybe there will be breakthroughs, maybe closure is in sight? We wait to be the judge of that. I for one am glad that there is a change in the Department of Arts and Culture and that Dr Aaron Motsoaledi kept his position as minister of Home Affairs.

Dual roles or not?

It is observed that a member of the ANC Top seven does not normally hold a ministerial position, yes this is the case for Former transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, who’s now the Secretary General of the ANC but this is not the case for the re-elected National Chairperson and the newly elected Second Deputy Secretary General Maropene Ramokgopa, who has now made it to the Office of The Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. The Ramokgopa surname seems to be a popular surname among top officials now in the ANC. I do not know how politicians juggle between the different caps and positions. Ramaphosa is also president of the ANC and that of the country which leads me to this question – in his role (s) do the interests of the country precede those of the party he leads or is it the other way around? He has since announced that after the 2024 elections, where he hopes the ANC will be victorious, there will be further reductions in cabinet departments from the current. But why must he wait until next year to make the changes, when they could be made now?

KPIs

How are ministers measured with regards to their appointments and expectations in these roles? There’s a lot of money going towards having them in cabinet from the State and taxpayers, surely there must be a lever of accountability pulled. Why was there no department of planning, monitoring and evaluation all along since Zuma’s tenure? How are ministers appointed and measured against their performance? I hope the reintroduction of the department of planning, monitoring and evaluation helps in speeding up service delivery and holding public officials accountable for delayed plans and poor execution. It’s high time!

Well, for those seeing a glimmer of hope in these moves, I am encouraged but for me, there’s still not much change that I believe will come with this. Maybe it’s still too early, especially on the Ministry of Electricity to judge but time I guess will tell. There was a lot of cheer and smiles the day the new ministers and deputies were sworn into their roles by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo but things on the ground, in South Africa, are seriously no joke.

There may have been a reconfiguration of government, and this is nothing new in our beautiful land, but the sun still rises and sets the same way all over sunny Mzansi. Only time will tell if these changes would bear the desired fruits for all or not.