Ramaphosa wants top court to overturn cabinet reshuffle ruling
President's lawyer argues in Constitutional Court that the constitution confers powers on the president to appoint or dismiss cabinet ministers
President Cyril Ramaphosa wants the Constitutional Court to rule that he is not legally obliged to explain his cabinet reshuffle decisions, if and when the rationality of those decisions are challenged in court. The outcome of this case — which was originally linked to the DA’s review of then president Jacob Zuma’s controversial decision to fire former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas — arguably has significant political implications for Ramaphosa. His advocate, Ishmael Semenya, argued in court on Thursday that the constitution confers powers on the president to appoint or dismiss cabinet ministers. “During his term of office, the [president] is most likely to change the constitution of his cabinet, either by reallocating ministers to different department or dismissing them and appointing others in their stead,” Semenya said. He said the question of whether Ramaphosa had to explain his reshuffle decisions “will arise in every instance” if a ruling that or...
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