Sisulu says another reshuffle would cause chaos
ANC presidential hopeful Lindiwe Sisulu says another cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma would be “disastrous” for South Africa and its economy.
Speaking to the Sunday Times this week after making a campaign stop at the University of Cape Town, Sisulu said the removal of ministers who had held their portfolios for just a few months would have a negative impact on the administration of their departments and the economy.
On Tuesday, Zuma kicked SACP leader Blade Nzimande out of his cabinet and appointed David Mahlobo as energy minister in his second reshuffle in seven months.
Commenting on speculation that Zuma was planning another reshuffle before the ANC’s national elective conference in December, Sisulu said she would be stunned if he did so.
“I would be surprised because we are in a very unstable environment,” she said.
“The stability of the political environment is also absolutely essential for the stability of our economy with rising unemployment. Investors are looking at us, rating agencies are looking at us and we need to do everything we can do to try and ensure there is stability.”
Sisulu herself has held several portfolios, now serving her second stint as minister of human settlements after also serving as minister of defence and of public service and administration.
“I think a reshuffle does create a lot of instability . . . I know exactly what removal of a minister means for the entire administration, for the work that has been on the table of that particular minister.
“It takes a new minister a lot of time to get to understand the environment they are operating in and to plan ahead. One more reshuffle would really be disastrous.”
Sisulu — daughter of ANC luminaries Walter and Albertina Sisulu — rejected comments by ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe this week that her surname meant she was ANC “royalty”.
Sisulu said her family name did not entitle her to leadership positions.
“When the apartheid state was at its worst, it did target our family. Nobody called us royalty,” she said.
“There was a time when all three generations of my family were in prison. There isn’t a single one of my family that escaped the wrath of apartheid. How you suddenly become royalty I have no idea.
“I did not get into the struggle because of my name. I got into struggle because I took a deliberate decision. I’m not entitled to anything,” said Sisulu.
She said the ANC should hold a consultative conference before the December elective conference. “We must have [one]. It will help us tone down the language, the excessively descriptive language.”