Who are new faces?

Siyabonga Cwele has been moved from the portfolio of telecommunications and postal services, to that of home affairs.

Cwele holds an MBchB medical degree from the University of KwaZulu Natal and an MPhil in economic policy from the University of Stellenbosch.

He has been a member of parliament since 1994 and member of the National Assembly since 1999.

He served as chairperson of the joint standing committee on intelligence, as minister of state security, and minister of intelligence.

Nomvula Mokonyane served as the minister of communications, before her reshuffle to environmental affairs yesterday.

Before this, she served as minister of water and sanitation, during which time the department was effectively rendered bankrupt, amid allegations of corruption and tender fraud involving several projects.

These included the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which was meant to be completed in 2024, at a cost of R22 billion.

Due to delays resulting from her direct interventions, the budget ballooned to R26 billion, with a new 2025 deadline.

Mokonyane was also the premier of Gauteng between 2009 and 2014.

Mokonyane studied leadership and governance at Harvard University and is one of the founding member of the Congress of South African Students.

Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams was previously the deputy minister of telecommunications and postal services, having previously served as the deputy minister of communications, and was a strong supporter of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s campaign to become the leader of the ANC.

At her appointment in 2011, aged 34, she became the youngest member of ex- president Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet.

The Mthatha native has been an ANC member of parliament since 2009, and served in the ANC Youth League during the tenure of Julius Malema.

Ndabeni-Abrahams holds an advanced certificate in project management from Rhodes University, a commonwealth telecommunications organisation diploma in telecommunications and managements systems and a certificate in telecommunications, policy and regulation management from Wits. – Citizen reporter