Mpumalanga has scored itself some spaces in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s newly announced cabinet. Ramaphosa finally announced his cabinet on Sunday after nearly two weeks of rigorous negotiations.
This was the longest it had taken for the newly sworn-in president to announce his cabinet, which, incidentally, features various politicians from almost all the political parties represented in the national parliament, except for the MK Party and the EFF.
Representing this province are six senior ANC members. Reginah Mhaule returns as the deputy minister of basic education and Lindiwe Ntshalintshali comes in as deputy minister of correctional services. Former state security minister David Mahlobo returns to his previous portfolio as deputy minister of water and sanitation, while Bernice Swarts will serve as deputy minister of environment, forestry and fisheries. Sindisiwe Chikunga replaces the veteran Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as the new minister for women, youth and persons with disabilities. The ANC Youth League graduate Ronald Lamola, who served in the justice ministry in the sixth administration, comes back as the new minister of international relations and co-operation.
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The Mpumalanga DA has also secured itself a spot in the cabinet. Jane Sithole was appointed as the new deputy minister of small business development. When he announced his cabinet, Ramaphosa said it took some time to ensure its stability and the negotiations needed time to ensure that the the country would be served optimally.
He said given the challenges the country faces and considering the electoral mandate this government must implement, he has decided to make certain changes to the national government portfolios.
“In the course of the sixth democratic administration, we indicated our intention to reduce the number of portfolios in the National Executive Commission. However, due to the need to ensure that the commission is inclusive of all the parties to the Government of National Unity, this has not been possible. In some instances, we have considered it necessary to separate certain portfolios to ensure sufficient focus on key issues,” Ramaphosa said.
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Both the DA and ANC have congratulated their members who made into to the cabinet.
