After some delays, President Cyril Ramaphosa has finally announced several changes to his national executive.

Addressing the nation on Monday night, he said: “The president may appoint no more than two ministers and two deputy ministers from outside the National Assembly. Understanding that just over one year remains in the term of this sixth administration, these changes are not about overhauling the National Executive,” Ramaphosa noted.

One of the most notable changes is the introduction of a minister of electricity – initially proposed during this year’s State of the Nation Address on February 9 – in the form of Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile replaces David Mabuza, who tendered his resignation at the start of the month.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana was sworn in as a Member of Parliament (MP) last week, following the resignation of Mike Basopu. Second secretary-general Maropene Ramokgopa, KZN co-operative governance MEC Sihle Zikalala and former Gauteng economic development MEC Parks Tau were also sworn in as MPs last week.

Hours before the Cabinet reshuffle, another MP – Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel – was sworn in. This allowed space for a member who was not part of Cabinet to be announced as the electricity minister.

“I have sought to balance the need for new skills and capabilities to drive the agenda that we outlined in the State of the Nation Address with the important task of ensuring stability and continuity in the work of government. In the course of attending to current challenges, we are establishing two new ministries,” Ramaphosa said.

These two ministries are electricity as well as planning, monitoring and evaluation. The latter will be tasked to ‘focus greater attention on the performance of government’.

Electricity minister

As the first minister of electricity, Ramokgopa will be tasked with rescuing Eskom from its current crisis and ending load-shedding. He was mayor of the City of Tshwane between 2010 and 2016.

Up until his ministerial position, he was the constituency head at the ANC Constituency Office.

“The minister will be expected to facilitate the co-ordination of the numerous departments and entities involved in the crisis response, work with the Eskom leadership to turn around the performance of existing power stations, and accelerate the procurement of new generation capacity.

“To enable the minister to do this work, I will, in terms of Section 97 of the Constitution, transfer to him certain powers and functions contained in relevant legislation.

“I announced that a national state of disaster had been declared to respond to the electricity crisis and its social and economic impact. The recently published disaster regulations empower the minister of electricity to issue directions to, among others, exclude critical facilities from load-shedding where technically feasible; expedite various regulatory processes for energy projects; and enable Eskom to undertake critical maintenance more quickly and efficiently,” he explained.

“The minister in the Presidency for electricity will remain in office only for as long as it is necessary to resolve the electricity crisis.”

Deputy president

One of the worst-kept secrets of the Cabinet reshuffle was the announcement of Mashatile as deputy president of the country. He was announced as the ruling party’s deputy president following the ANC’s national conference in December 2022.

Transport minister

Fikile Mbalula resigned as the minister of transport following his election as the ANC’s secretary-general. Ramaphosa announced that he will be replaced by Sindisiwe Chikunga. She is promoted from the deputy minister position.

Ministers

• Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni
• Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
• Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Minister Maropene Ramokgopa
• Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa
• Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele
• Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Thembi Nkadimeng
• Public Service and Administration Minister Noxolo Kiviet
• Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Sihle Zikalala
• Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa
• Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille
• Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga

Deputy ministers

• Deputy Ministers in the Presidency, Nomasonto Motaung and Kenneth Morolong
• Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Deputy Minister Sisisi Tolashe
• Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Deputy Minister Pinky Kekana
• Deputy Ministers for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Parks Tau and Zolile Burns-Ncamashe
• Deputy Ministers for Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo and Judith Tshabalala
• Public Works Deputy Minister Bernice Swarts
• Small Business Development Deputy Minister Dipuo Peters
• Public Enterprises Deputy Minister Obed Bapela
• Transport Deputy Minister Lisa Mangcu

Nathi Mthethwa, Lindiwe Sisulu and Maite Nkoana-Mashabane were not retained in the new-look Cabinet.

Ramaphosa urged the current and newly appointed ministers to work with ‘speed and urgency to address their challenges’.

“I have instructed the Presidency and National Treasury to develop a proposal to rationalise government departments, entities and programmes to ensure greater efficiency. This work, which will result in the reduction of the number of ministries, will inform the configuration of government going into the next administration,” Ramaphosa added.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya previously announced that the ministers would most likely be sworn in tomorrow, most probably in Cape Town.