Reshuffle sparks nuke fears
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s latest cabinet reshuffle was a “carefully calculated manoeuvre” aimed at advancing a nuclear deal between South Africa and Russia, say NGOs, unions and opposition parties.
The key shift was David Mahlobo, a Zuma ally, appointed as energy minister from state security.
“It seems it’s clearly all about the nuclear deal, putting in place a trusted lieutenant in David Mahlobo to the Department of Energy,” said Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution secretary Lawson Naidoo.
“We know that Mahlobo has accompanied the president on several trips to Russia in recent times and one can now presume that was in order to lay the groundwork for this nuclear deal that I think is going to be the final signature on Zuma’s tenure as president.”
SA Federation of Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said moving loyalist Mahlobo from the state security to energy portfolio was a blatant attempt to push through contested plans to build new nuclear power reactors.
IFP chief whip Narend Singh said they were “extremely concerned” that Mahlobo had been appointed to head the Energy Affairs Department.
“To us, it seems the minister of intelligence has been made minister of energy to get the Russian nuke deal fast-tracked,” he said.
Cope spokesperson Glacier Nkhwashu said: “Mr Jacob Zuma’s latest cabinet reshuffle clearly exposes his desperation and moral bankruptcy. It’s evident that Zuma has gone rogue as president of our country and as president of what’s left of the ANC.
“There is no evidence in Zuma’s rearranging of his pawns that he has the interests of South Africa and its people at heart. His moves are calculated to continue with the state capture project and to protect his own political and selfish interests.
“(Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi) Zwane, (Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne) Brown and (Minister of Finance Malusi) Gigaba, who have all been exposed as being heavily implicated in the capture of our state and the country’s resources, are retained. Had Zuma any morality all three would have been fired.
“Mahlobo, Zuma’s fixer, has clearly been moved to energy to facilitate with Gigaba the nuclear deal.
“(State Security Minister Bongani Thomas) Bongo, a rabid defender of Zuma in Parliament, is moved to do Zuma’s dirty intelligence work, in all probability under the direction of Mahlobo. With each Zuma cabinet reshuffle South Africa has been the loser.”
Meanwhile, Zuma’s decision to dump Blade Nzimande as higher education minister has upped the stakes in the run-up to the ANC’s 54th national conference in December.
With the reshuffle being interpreted as the final push by Zuma and his allies, the decision to change the executive for the seventh time since 2009, and twice this year, was condemned by the ANC at Luthuli House, while the SACP and Cosatu vowed to intensify efforts to remove what the organisations referred to as a “delusional”, “runaway” president intent on “selling the country to the highest bidder”.
Zuma’s move, which saw the rand dip, has also been described by the SACP as a clear plan by him to anoint his successor in December.
The decision has also further strained the relations of the tripartite alliance, with the SACP warning that the historical relationship was on the brink of collapse.
This has again raised fears of the SACP cutting ties with the ANC and contesting the 2019 elections on its own ticket should Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa not be elected party president in December.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe led the charge yesterday against Zuma, saying the reshuffle was a recipe for instability in government. He singled out ministers Hlengiwe Mkhize and Ayanda Dlodlo, appointed in April in Zuma’s last reshuffle to Home Affairs and Communications respectively, and who have now swopped roles less than seven months later.
“That is a formula for instability and, therefore, it can’t be the correct and sustainable way to deal with that issue,” Mantashe said. It would “negatively impact” the tripartite alliance, he warned.
‘Mahlobo has accompanied the president on several trips to Russia’
OPPOSITION parties said yesterday they were not surprised by President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet reshuffle even though it comes on the eve of a crucial elective conference for the ruling party.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said it was clear the relationship between Nzimande and Zuma had broken down.
“It is also clear that whoever differs with or appears to be attacking the president, Zuma will remove,” he said.
“Some ministers, like David Mahlobo (former minister of state security) have failed in their departments and should never have been in the running for a new cabinet post.”
IFP chief whip Narend Singh said it was Zuma’s prerogative to appoint his cabinet: “Blade’s criticism of the president led to this.”
Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution, Lawson Naidoo, said Nzimande’s axing was not surprising.
“I think this is something that has been in the pipeline for some time. I think the interesting thing is that he’s only fired Blade and not other SACP-aligned ministers so one would have to see how the party responds to that.”
EFF leader Julius Malema said yesterday the party rejected the reshuffle of the national executive because it did not include Zuma.
“We welcome Blade Nzimande’s removal as higher education minister. Now he will have all the necessary time to go to the ground and campaign for the removal of the Zuma family in the ANC December conference,” Malema said.
“There was big expectation on his appointment as a communist into the cabinet, but like all communist appointments, Nzimande was consistent with incompetence and compliance with bourgeois agendas. The cabinet reshuffle is a clear consolidation of the state of capture for the nuclear procurement deal,” he said.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the reshuffle was not a surprise, describing it as the latest move in Zuma’s war against anyone who opposes his project of state capture.
“The obvious target was SACP leader Dr Blade Nzimande, who follows Pravin Gordhan, Derek Hanekom, Mcebisi Jonas and others who have failed to toe the Zuma line and have found themselves out of office,” he said.