This is a cabinet we rightly expect much from

Well, our new Cabinet is here and, no doubt, we’ll be holding its bones up to the sun to look for meat for some time.

As someone who’s more or less an outsider to the world of Oz – sorry, politics – there are some objectively good, bad, bleh and OMG, what were you thinking Mr President, appointments.

One many won’t miss other than her diehard fans will be Bathabile Dlamini, chef in charge of the mess at the SA Social Security Agency, which earned the dubious honour of being the first government department to be placed under judicial management. For most of us, earning that kind of indictment on our work would have sent us underground, but not Mme Dlamini.

It is a worry Nomvula Mokonyane never followed her. Mokonyane’s dismantling of the water and sanitation department will one day be the stuff of legend. And then to dump her in environmental affairs was a moment that had many of us greenies clutching our pearls.

Fortunately, other than the deafening silence from her office over the attacks on South African resources on South African soil, such as large herbivore poaching, Mokonyane at least managed to sign off on protection for three marine areas – work, one suspects, that may have largely been done by her predecessor.

With Barbara Creecy now stepping into the role, hopefully she won’t be as paranoid about giving us the real picture about our wildlife resources and bring real change to SANParks.

The appointment of political royalty Lindiwe Sisulu to Mokonyane’s former post at water and sanitation gives an idea of the seriousness with which Ramaphosa has taken the position in this water-scarce country, where billions of rands have simply evaporated.

Of course, Sisulu’s decision to buckle under pressure to close down South Africa’s embassy in Israel is one which has caused great offence to many people – and it’s one that won’t be forgotten by people with very long memories.

That said, Naledi Pandor, herself an ANC diehard, is unlikely to reverse the ANC policy decision on Israel. Then there’s the new minister of transport, Fikile “Vrrrrphaa” Mbalula, who has a tough job ahead of him in terms of getting our rail transport system back on track, sorting out those damned e-tolls once and forever and getting people’s buy-in for road safety.

It can’t be his job to sit in the car with us as we drive around to make sure we don’t speed or drive recklessly. He must make people want to do those things – and whether he forces us to do so out of fear or a sense of responsibility, something must change.

The less said about some of the other appointments, the better. But there is one more name I recognise: the evergreen Teflon-coated Patricia de Lille, who now runs the department of public works.

Some say she’s been set up, others are dancing in the street, but whichever way you want to look at it, former president Jacob Zuma could take some lessons from Aunty Pat when it comes to political survival.

And once all the shouting and screaming is over, all that has to happen is that the politicians have to make things work the way we all know they can. We’ll be watching y’all.

Amanda Watson.

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