By Bheki Mngomezulu
A month after the May 29, general elections, President Cyril Ramaphosa eventually succeeded in assembling the Cabinet on Sunday, June 30. In total, eleven political parties became signatories to the historic deal which formed the Government of National Unity GNU.
Consequently, the president was able to appoint 32 ministers and 43 deputy ministers. Contrary to expectation that the Cabinet would be reduced from 30 which was the number in the sixth administration, two more ministries were added. Once again, there is a bloated Cabinet.
What is noticeable with the new Cabinet is that except for a few, most ministries have a minister from one political party and a deputy minister from another party.
This is the case with, for example, the departments of Agriculture, Basic Education, Defence, Electricity and Energy, Higher Education and Training, Home Affairs, International Relations and Co-operation, Justice, Public Works and Infrastructure, as well as Transport.
