Zuma acolytes who must go
The new president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet, probably at the weekend or early next week. There is little doubt he would like to start with a clean slate. Although he will probably endeavour to present a mix of
The appointment of Bongani Bongo as minister of state security to replace David Mahlobo surprised many, as he was merely an ANC backbencher who had never played a substantial role in the party. He is seen as part of Zuma’s yes-men and yes-women. Mahlobo is at the centre of the controversial nuclear power deal with Russia, which President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated he is opposed to. Ramaphosa said South Africa had sufficient energy sources and that nuclear energy was unnecessary. As minister of intelligence, Mahlobo’s operatives failed to forsee the violence which saw numerous schools torched in Vuwani, Limpopo. The minister of mineral resources is unlikely to be part of a new Cabinet. Zwane is likely to be arrested and charged, alongside members of the Gupta family and others, for alleged fraud in the Estina dairy project. As MEC of agriculture for the Free State, it is alleged that Zwane and his department’s senior officials facilitated illegal transactions with the Guptas. Under Mbalula’s watch, vehicle hijackings, gang violence and organised crime syndicates have increased, while crime levels in general have risen. Recently, a group of foreign tourists were attacked. Mbalula shares the blame with his predecessor, Nathi Nhleko, for the Hawks’ failure to investigate state capture, fraud and corruption involving high-profile individuals. Brown has failed to hold the boards of Eskom and Transnet to account for alleged corrupt activities. Under Brown’s leadership, Transnet allegedly fraudulently awarded tenders to foreign companies for the building of 10 locomotives. South African Airways almost ran aground while Brown dithered about removing chairperson Dudu Myeni. Mokonyane had been a Zuma footsoldier for years and was outspoken about her allegiance to the former president. As a reward for her loyalty, Zuma appointed Mokonyane premier of Gauteng, bypassing her party’s senior ANC provincial chairperson, Paul Mashatile. She is known for controversial statements, such as: “The falling rand is no big deal; when it falls, we will pick it up.” Dlamini is a staunch Zuma supporter who defended him at every level and accused Zuma opponents of having their own
smallanyana skeletons (tiny skeletons) in their closets. As minister of social development, social grants corruption increased and she was stopped by the Constitutional Court from extending a fraudulent grants contract to Cash Paymaster Services. As a former police minister, Mthethwa will forever be associated with the Marikana massacre, when striking mineworkers were gunned down by heavily armed police service members in August 2012. Mthethwa stood as the Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma camp’s candidate for the position of ANC national chairperson, but was defeated by Gwede Mantashe in December 2017. Gigaba is not only a strong Zuma ally and a fellow homeboy from Nkandla, he is at the centre of the state capture scandal involving the Gupta family. Under his watch as minister of public enterprises, most of the allegedly corrupt Gupta-related transactions occurred in state-owned enterprises such as Eskom and Transnet. He also allegedly facilitated the fast-tracking of the Gupta family’s SA citizenship. Nicknamed “Weekend Special” after his short reign as minister of finance, Van Rooyen was Zuma’s replacement for sacked finance minister Nhlanhla Nene in December 2015. He was appointed to this important post as a mere ANC backbencher, which threw the markets into disarray and caused the rand to nosedive. He was, in turn, replaced by Pravin Gordhan, who returned as finance minister.