New MP Dlamini-Zuma takes first step on road back to Cabinet

The path is paved for Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to step into the top office in the ANC and potentially the country, after she was sworn in as a member of parliament yesterday.

The parliamentary back benches are obviously a temporary parking bay for her as she is believed to be headed for a senior position in President Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet, amid rumours he is planning a Cabinet reshuffle.

Her likely appointment to the executive is seen as a strategy to give her the resources to reignite her political career in the ANC.

Yesterday’s swearing in marked her second coming and the official revival of her political fortunes.

It left no doubt that Dlamini-Zuma, who has served under all the black democratic presidents of the republic, will get a senior Cabinet post again.

She has handled a number of crucial executive portfolios, including health, foreign affairs and home affairs under former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, and Zuma, and has been one of the longest-serving members of the ANC national executive committee.

She has political stature and public clout within the party, government and internationally.

Her return to the state has reinforced speculation that she will replace Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, who is believed to have been earmarked by the president for axing because of his continuous criticism of Zuma’s administration and the South African Communist Party’s consistent call for him to step down.

It was rumoured that Dlamini-Zuma’s appointment was timed for her to announce the introduction of partially free or phasing in of free education at universities, a move that would boost her fortunes in her battle for the ANC presidency against the powerful Cyril Ramaphosa, whose campaign has taken off countrywide.

At least six other candidates are vying for the top spot. The winner will probably succeed Zuma as the president in 2019.

Political analyst Professor Andre Duvenhage said bringing Dlamini-Zuma to parliament and subsequently to the Cabinet was meant to strengthen her campaign within the ANC.

He said her primary support was in KwaZulu-Natal, where structures were divided, and this rendered her campaign weak.

“There is a realisation that her candidacy and campaign are falling apart and putting her in parliament is to save her. At the moment, the ANC has not been able to support her campaign due to the fact that she is outside of the structures or leadership of the party,” Duvenhage said.

In reaction to media queries about her possible appointment, Dlamini-Zuma said she was unaware of it and that all she knew was that she was there to become an MP, which was what the offices of the ANC chief whip and secretary-general told her.

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said: “There is an opportunity to find a position for NDZ without having to totally overhaul cabinet; there could be a ‘soft’ reshuffle.” Mathekga, author of When Zuma Goes, said Zuma would refrain from a full reshuffle because he was rapped over the knuckles by ANC top brass and alliance leaders the last time.