Cabinet: playing politics
Cyril Ramaphosa may be looking to the long political game, but some questionable cabinet choices could trip him up
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s new cabinet is reminiscent of the government of national unity that presided over SA from the first democratic elections in 1994 until February 1997: a government made up of adversaries, forced to co-operate in the name of running the country. Of course, the situations are not exactly the same. The government of national unity was made up of different political parties, with ANC comrades working alongside members of the National Party (NP) and the Inkatha Freedom Party. Ramaphosa’s government springs from the factionalism that split the ANC in the lead-up to the party’s national conference in December — factionalism so severe it was akin to two different parties vying for control. His cabinet — in essence a reshuffle of former president Jacob Zuma’s administration — can thus be seen as a modern-day government of unity, albeit of ANC unity. Ramaphosa, after all, was the ANC’s chief negotiator in the talks that led SA to its first democratic elections. Foll...
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