Women’s ministry may go in cabinet shake-up
PLANS are afoot to reduce the size of President Jacob Zuma’s next cabinet, because senior ANC leaders argue that government is too bloated.
Since taking office in 2009, Zuma has been criticised for running a bloated administration. The executive consists of 34 ministers and 33 deputy ministers.
The ANC national chairwoman, Baleka Mbete, confirmed this week that there were continuing party discussions about possible changes to the structure of government. Some departments would be shut down, others would be reconfigured or new ones introduced. She said the discussions had not been concluded.
However, other party insiders said there was agreement within the ANC’s upper echelons that the 34-member cabinet should be reduced.
Some of the departments said to be facing the chop were the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, and the Planning Ministry. The latter fell under outgoing cabinet minister Trevor Manuel, and was responsible for the formulation of the National Development Plan (NDP).
“You probably don’t need a planning commission in the [current] form . . .” she said.
A new ministry has been proposed to oversee small and medium business.
The Black Business Council and the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry were among the formations that had lobbied the ANC for this ministry to be established.
Mbete said she agreed with the criticism levelled at government, about its size, but believed that some of the departments Zuma introduced in 2009 were necessary.
They were informed by what the ANC government wanted to achieve at the time, and the NDP was in place.
She said: “What you need to do now is to break down the plan into implementable chunks and we need to finalise the debate of where the departments go and cabinet goes as it is structured . . . We have to allow the new administration to come in.
“But I don’t think that we are likely to keep things the way they are structured right now.”
While there was a debate about the relevance and effectiveness of the women’s ministry, the reality was that gender issues needed to be attended to.
“We have made this attempt in the past five years.
“Is that the best we can do? How can we strengthen our tools to address this societal problem . . . because it won’t go away because you close down the ministry. I’m not qualified at this point to say ‘close it down’,” she said.
Mbete, who has served as the National Assembly’s speaker and South Africa’s deputy president, has surprised many by availing herself as a candidate for parliament.
The decision has led to much speculation about the role she could play.
Some people have suggested that Zuma may appoint her as his deputy ahead of the ANC’s deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
But Mbete said she was returning without any expectation of being appointed to cabinet.
“I can’t pre-empt actions and decisions that will be made and some of which are the prerogative of the president.
“I can even sit in the back benches and participate. We must never make demands that ‘ I’m a leader, I’m important so I must have a role’,” she said.