While SA heads for disaster, Ramaphosa’s Cabinet lives in La La Land

By the time this is published, President Cyril Ramaphosa will surely have announced his new Cabinet. It is, after all, a full six weeks since he trounced his rivals in a leadership vote and time is of the essence.

The situation is so bad that his government is contemplating declaring another national state of disaster to deal, ostensibly, with the power crisis. Maybe also the unemployment crisis? The no-growth crisis? The collapse of policing crisis?

And while all this dire stuff is happening, the poor president is surrounded by ministers who live in La La Land. A sports, arts and culture minister who wanted to spend a couple of dozen million to erect a 100-metre tall flag to celebrate South African pride and attract tourism.

And a tourism minister who wants to spend a billion on sponsoring the British football club Tottenham Hotspur.

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But despite the clear need to make swingeing changes and all the feverish speculation about the likely composition of Ramaphosa’s “reform team”, it’s pointless to get too excited.

Despite most of Ramaphosa’s ministers being not fit for purpose, given the paucity of ANC talent, it’s less about who’s in the new line-up of gravy guzzlers than who’s out.

At the bare minimum, however, if the following don’t happen, alarm bells are in order:

• That Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, as well as Cooperative Governance and Tradition Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma are sacked. Not “redeployed” but out on their ears. Both have actively undermined Ramaphosa and are anti-constitutionalist populists aligned with the radical economic transformation faction;
• That Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe is transferred to another portfolio where he cannot continue his sabotaging of alternative energy options, except for those that his relatives and assorted ANC cronies have the possibility of a rake-off from. Ideally, Mantashe should, like Sisulu and Dlamini-Zuma, be dropped completely, but since he is Ramaphosa’s political comfort blanket, that’s not going to happen; and
• That the Cabinet is slimmed down to fewer than 20 departments. At present, there are 28 ministers and 32 deputy ministers.

A real bonus would be the exits of the police and national education ministers. Bheki Cele, who is not only flamboyantly incompetent but displays many of the personality characteristics of a sociopathic despot, is dangerous in that crucial portfolio.

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And then there is Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande, whose 25 consecutive years of mediocrity are unblemished by a single achievement.

This week, Daily Maverick broke the story that Sisulu has been secretly spearheading a deal in which the government’s marketing arm, South African Tourism, will sponsor Tottenham Hotspur to the merry tune of almost R1 billion.

Sisulu has denied that she has any personal interest or benefits from the deal, in the same way that Mantashe has rejected imputations of impropriety as regards the Karpowerships deal.

They may be telling the truth – although given the pervasiveness of corruption in the ANC leadership, the balance of probabilities is against it. The majority of South Africans, including ANC voters, simply don’t believe them.

This makes Ramaphosa’s Cabinet shuffle doubly difficult. Not only does he have to find able ministers, but he has to find ones that are also honest. Were he in his selection to hew to such exacting requirements, the new Cabinet would be able to conduct its meetings in the Presidency’s broom cupboard.

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