None of Ramaphosa’s ministers deserve to remain in Cabinet, says analyst

The entire government, like a fish, is rotten from the head down and none of the Cabinet ministers should be spared from the axe because they are all incompetent and many are corrupt, experts say.

Political analyst Xolani Dube, head of the Xubera Institute for Research and Development, said none of the ministers deserved to remain.

His comments follow a parliamentary motion of no confidence in the entire Cabinet, proposed by the Democratic Alliance (DA).

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“They don’t deserve to be there; we must not oppose a motion simply because it comes from [John] Steenhuisen or the DA. It’s not about a call by Steenhuisen, it’s a call we all should be making because the evidence is there that the Cabinet is incompetent and they can’t run the country,” Dube said.

The burning of parliament and the fact that SA remains on fire were sufficient for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s to dismiss the ministers.

“Why are they still there,” Dube asked.

Ramaphosa’s inaction against his ministers who were found wanting during the July 2021 insurrection and those implicated in state capture made him liable as an accomplice in their crimes.

He should dismantle the whole security cluster and fire, in particular, former state security minister Ayanda Dlodlo, Police Minister Bheki Cele and former defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula over their handling of last year’s riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Another analyst, Prof Lesiba Teffo, also supported Steenhuisen’s call.

“I don’t disagree with him on the people that must go,” he said.

“I don’t understand why Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was sent to parliament after all what happened? What it does show is that Ramaphosa puts a higher premium on the destiny of the ANC than the destiny of the country, which is contrary to the oath of office that the president took.”

However, Teffo praised some ministers, such International Relations and Cooperation Minister Dr Naledi Pandor and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, and former finance minister Tito Mboweni.

He said despite criticism by his opponents, Gordhan worked hard, silently, to make things work in the department.

Teffo said it was always a pleasure for him to listen to Steenhuisen speak because, although he was said to have no degree, he sounded more learned, politically mature and articulate than some “so-called ministers and some PhDs available in parliament”.

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“For me, it’s not about the colour of the skin but about the content of the character. We know our past but we cannot live with it forever because our founding fathers taught us to live on reconciliation, nation-building and social cohesion,” he said.

South Africa is more divided today than it was in 1994.

“Bracket out the struggle, look at where we are now. We need good leaders in this country.

“It’s so embarrassing that when we are looking for the country’s chief justice, there is not a single white, Indian or white candidate who applied for the job. But we know they don’t bother to apply because they know they won’t be considered,” Teffo said.

Dube said the DA needs to be supported in its call in the same way the ANC supported the DA when it used a motion of no confidence to try to remove Jacob Zuma from power.

“This is not a DA only call… It’s a call for people who are incompetent to be removed.”