Is Ramaphosa’s refusal to fire Simelane a survival strategy?

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s mini Cabinet reshuffle this week is nothing but window dressing meant to protect former minister of justice Thembi Simelane, an expert has said.

Political analyst Prof Ntsikelelo Breakfast said the president wants to be seen to be doing something about Simelane, who is facing accusations of corruption related to the looting of VBS Bank. The minister reportedly lived a lavish lifestyle, with unexplained millions deposited into the account of her coffee shop which she opened using a loan from VBS Bank.

Ramaphosa under pressure to fire Simelane

Ramaphosa was under pressure to fire the minister but had been seen to be dilly-dallying. On Tuesday he swapped Simelane with her Human Settlements counterpart, Mmamoloko Kubayi, in the unexpected reshuffle.

Breakfast said by not firing Simelane, Ramaphosa is employing a survival strategy for himself.

“The minister is one of the henchpeople of the president. She is one of the proponents of Cyril’s, she always defended him in parliament against attacks from the opposition,” Breakfast said.

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If Simelane was from another faction, the president would have removed her immediately. He acted now because of the bad publicity surrounding the issue, Breakfast added.

Cabinet reshuffle was merely a swap

Independent political analyst Sandile Swana said Ramaphosa did not do a reshuffle but merely swapped the positions of two of his loyalists.

Swana said Ramaphosa couldn’t do a proper reshuffle due to the “golden hand-cuffs” around his arm from Business Leadership South Africa, which gave him the government of national unity (GNU). He said the president should also have acted against some DA minister who have defied him.

Ramaphosa ‘weakened’ by the ANC losses

Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube refused to attend the signing of the BELA Bill by the president recently in apparent defiance in line with the DA’s opposition to certain clauses of the legislation. She also recently signed a side agreement with AfriForum that binds her department not to implement clauses 4 and 5 on language and culture.

Ramaphosa signed the Act but postponed the implementation of the clauses for three months to allow for objectors’ submissions.

ALSO READ: Cabinet reshuffle: ‘Simelane doesn’t belong in Cabinet, end of story’

Some within the ANC tripartite alliance called for Ramaphosa to remove Gwarube, or at least shift her to another portfolio. Others wanted him to act against the DA’s Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, who signed a visa waiver for Ukrainian citizens visiting South Africa without the president’s authorisation.

According to Breakfast, Ramaphosa has been weakened by the ANC losses in the May elections which forced the party to establish a coalition with other parties.

“His did not ascend into power because of the ANC only but due to efforts of other parties like the DA.”

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