Business and economists have responded mainly positively to the new cabinet announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday night, although there are some questions about some ministers who were kept, while nothing was done about the size of the cabinet.
Civil organisation Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) says it hopes the new cabinet will consult more closely with civil society and address long-standing concerns with service delivery, transparency and accountability, but is unimpressed with the increased size of what was already a bloated cabinet.
Outa glad to see Chikunga go, but what about Mantashe and Nzimande?Wayne Duvenage, CEO of Outa, says he believes the increase was meant to accommodate old friends of the president, such as Blade Nzimande and Gwede Mantashe, who did not perform well in their previous positions and would have been better left out.
Nzimande has done extensive damage to the Higher Education portfolio and in particular to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).
The same can be said for Mantashe , who loses Energy to a broader Electricity and Energy ministry under Kgosientsho Ramokgopa but retains control over mineral and petroleum resources. We believe that Mantashe has overstayed his welcome and done far too much damage to the mining industry to have been allowed to continue to head up this portfolio.
