Know your cabinet: part 2
2009-06-02 16:11
Minister of Labour: Membathisi Mdladlana
Mdladlana, 57, has been the minister of labour since his appointment by Nelson Mandela in 1998.
The department has earned a place among dysfunctional government departments, such as home affairs, after receiving a qualified audit, when the auditor disagrees with the treatment or disclosure of information in an organisation's financial statements, for the fourth consecutive year. Almost all the entities under Mdladlana’s control, including the National Skills Fund, the Compensation Fund and the Sheltered Employment Fund, received qualified audits. Mdladlana’s has been criticised for his failure to fill crucial vacancies in the department, the latest annual report of which shows a vacancy rate in excess of 800. Analysts calls him an embarrassment
A teacher by training, he earned a degree in Education and IsiXhosa from Unisa in 1997 in education. Originally from the Eastern Cape, he worked as a teacher and principle in Cape Town townships from 1972-1994. Thereafter he was sworn in as an MP in SA’s first democratic elections.
He was under the media spotlight after making comments which were regarded as racist about Chinese South Africans being granted BEE status. He has a reputation for speaking his mind and got the party into a bind recently by saying that labour brokering would be banned, when government has said it would merely be regulated.
Minister of Mining: Susan Shabangu
Shabangu, 53, has only held deputy ministerial positions previously.
Although those included mines and energy, her appointment as Mining Minister was something of a surprise and industry insiders worry she may be too inexperienced.
She caused an uproar as deputy security minister last year when she advised police dealing with criminals: "You must kill the bastards if they threaten you or the community. You must not worry about the regulations."
Since her swearing in she has vowed to focus on enforcing safety measures to curb mining deaths, which have hurt output. She also said she'd review black economic empowerment in the industry, focus on issuing new mining permits to remove a backlog of applications and investigate the possibility of setting up a state mining firm.
Minister of Police: Nathi Mthethwa
Mthethwa, 42, remains in position, albeit in the renamed portfolio of Police - formerly known as safety and security. He was put in the position in September 2008 by Kgalema Motlanthe and previously acted as the ANC chief whip in the National Assembly.
Mthethwa quickly rose in the ANC and is regarded as an efficient worker. Former minister Charles Nqakula was slammed for his ineffectual handling of what is widely held to be a crisis of crime in the country. Zuma and Mthethwa have both declared war on crime and called for the appointment of a new police chief, saying that Selebi’s 18-month leave of absence thanks to his court battles has had a negative effect on the fight against crime.
Mthethwa has recently spoken about bringing in the army to escort cash-in-transit trucks, installing CCTV cameras in the townships and told police officers not to "hesitate" to pull the trigger when under fire.
He had several leadership positions in the ANC parliamentary caucus and has been involved with the then-illegal ANC in KZN since the age of 15. He became an MP in 2002 and was considered to have done a good job as chairperson of the portfolio committee of minerals and energy before he became chief whip.
Deputy Minister of Police: Fikile Mbalula
Former ANCYL president, Mbalula, 38, controversially served in that position till age 36 - after the cut-off age. Like his successor Malema, he was known as a firebrand in the position and was frequently in the news for his controversial - and often non-grammatical - statements.
He was found to have plagiarised an article he wrote for the ANC newsletter, Umrambulo, in November 2007, which was nearly identical to a 2002 Oxfam document. His appointment is widely considered a reward for loyalty and the result of Youth League lobbying, but he commended himself with his successful management of the ANC's effective campaign in the 2009 general elections.
Capitalising on the Youth League's claim to be "kingmakers" in the party, he takes credit for installing Mbeki as president and later having him removed and carrying Zuma to power.
He is also a key member of the ruling party’s National Working Committee and National Executive Committee. During the late 1980s, he played an active role in the Congress of South African Students and the South African Youth Congress.
Minister of Public Enterprises: Barbara Hogan
A long-time member of the ANC with a background in finance, Hogan, 57, became the centre of national attention when she replaced the reviled Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as minister of health in Motlanthe's Cabinet in September.
She was credited with turning around the department in her six months at the helm, and hailed by activists after years of Aids denialism and controversy under Tshabalala-Msimang. Admired for getting the job done and speaking her mind, she ran into trouble when she condemned the ANC government's turning away of the Dalai Lama, and had to apologise in private for criticising the party. She was one of two South Africans who made Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in 2009.
While her departure from health was mourned, analysts note she is better suited at pubic enterprises with her strong financial managerial skills. She will oversee big
state companies like Eskom and will probably have to work towards closing the department down.
The ANC has made it clear that the public enterprises department must go, according to Business Report. It is widely regarded as a meddler in the affairs of other departments. There has been talk of phasing it out as we know it, and establishing an agency that would be responsible for all the state-owned enterprises.
Analysts hope that Hogan's reassignment to public enterprises would bring a fresh approach to this ministry in view of the huge challenges facing parastatals such as SAA, the SABC and others and the billions of rands of state funds being spent on parastatals.
She joined the ANC in 1976 after the Soweto uprising and was detained in 1982, ill-treated and became the first woman in SA to be found guilty of high treason. She was released in 1990 after which she played a big role in the creation of the ANC structures in Gauteng.
After that she was secretary of the ANC's office in what is now Gauteng province, and chaired the influential portfolio committee on finances from 1999 to 2004.
Minister for the Public Service and Administration: Richard Baloyi
Baloyi replaced Geraldine Fraser-Moloketi in this position in September 2008 during the cabinet reshuffle. He was chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration and one of the party's chief whips. He oversees about 1.2 million civil servants and the pressure is on to create efficiency in government's main point of contact with the public.
Worrying signs of his leadership include shelving the Single Public Service Bill, an attempt to streamline the working conditions of civil servants across the three spheres of government, and spending too much of his first quarter in office in Limpopo where he is deeply embroiled in local politics. He will have to turn his attention to the large vacancy rates in the senior state service - a factor in the slow rates of delivery across government, reports say.
He became involved in politics as a student and UDF activist, serving in various leadership roles for the ANC and becoming a member of Parliament in 1999. Baloyi received a BA degree from the University of the North and completed a senior leadership development programme at the University of Botswana.
In a recent report on minister's financial interests it was found that he had interests in three entities, but has decided to withdraw from them. “[I] aim to walk the talk,” he said of the decision. He is also said to be more open than his predecessor.
Minister of Public Works: Geoff Doidge
Doidge, 55, is another minister who continues in his position after appointment to Motlanthe's interim cabinet. He was called one of the most popular parliamentarians at the time, deeply respected for his impartial stance in the often-hot seat of the National Assembly.
In January 2001 he was appointed by the ANC in the place of Andrew Feinstein, as chair of its study group on public accounts and ANC's official spokesperson on the National Assembly's public accounts committee, after the latter refused to stop investigating the arms deal. A loyalist, he was criticised for squashing an investigation into the controversial deal.
But he is hardworking and well-organised and has been busy and responsive in his first few months in office. The Built Environment Management Bill - which sought to alter the entry levels into engineering, architecture, quantity-surveying and project management - was withdrawn after an outcry from the professions.
Public Works encompasses everything from the management of the state’s extensive property portfolio to the more exciting expanded public works programme. The minister is a good manager of such a diverse range of work.
The works programme created more than one million work opportunities in 2008.
Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform: Gugile Nkwinti
Nkwinti, 60, heads up a newly created portfolio in Zuma's restructured Cabinet, and is highly regarded as former agriculture MEC in the Eastern Cape. He has his work cut out for him as Zuma's government wants to prioritise rural development and the slow rate of land reform.
He was previously appointed the first speaker of the provincial legislature and held this position until 1999, after which he took up the post of housing, local government and traditional affairs MEC.
He has said in interviews he believed his appointment was in recognition of the work he had done in the Eastern Cape over the past four years, particularly with the green revolution programme. The programme, launched in the region in 2005, seeks to provide infrastructure as well as ensure food security and livestock improvement in order to achieve increased economic activity and global competitiveness.
His mandate is gradual transformation of land as well as livestock, property and communities, and secondly, a focus on rural development including social and economic infrastructure, and public amenities and facilities.
He will also look at land reform and establishing a rural development agency.
Minister of Science and Technology: Naledi Pandor
Pandor, 55, was removed from education, where she has worked hard at completely overhauling the educational system in her five years at the helm. But some say she was stagnating in the portfolio and it was time for new blood, as the hefty portfolio was split in two. A political heavyweight, Pandor has a reputation as an independent thinker, who is decisive and intolerant of slackness.
Nevertheless she was criticised for the OBE system, which failed to deliver the results it promised. She takes over Science and Technology from Azapo president Mosibudi Mangena who did a good job of running the portfolio. But Pandor will still have her fair share of challenges including skill shortages in the field.
She was born in Durban, and her grandfather was P.K. Matthews, a respected anti-apartheid teacher and reformist, who was a member of the ANC.
A controversy broke out last year when long time critic, ANCYL President Julius Malema insulted her "fake accent". He was made to apologise by the ANC.
Minister of Social Development: Edna Molewa
Molewa, 52, replaces Dr Zola Skweyiya, who recently resigned as a Member of Parliament and from politics, due to health reasons.
Skweyiya was dedicated in running a huge social programme, paying out grants to over 9 million South Africans per annum.
The government aims to increase social spending to create a net for the vulnerable and unemployed. In 2009, the social grants programme was increased to R13.2bn and extended to children up to 15 years of age. The age for men to become eligible for a pension was reduced to 60.
Molewa was previously the North West premier who, while not hugely popular in her core constituency, was seen as a strong administrator who can ably run this crucial department.
Her future in politics looked uncertain in 2008 when the new ANC leadership in the province voiced unhappiness about her lack of consultation on governance matters. She was also blamed for not providing leadership on who to back between Zuma and Mbeki in Polokwane. Her career was put back on track by the ANC Women’s League, which gave her the responsibility of heading the league’s 60-day non-stop election campaign.
Minister of Sport and Recreation: Makhenkesi Stofile
Stofile continues in the position he has held since 2004, despite a poor performance and repeated criticism. His tenure has been characterised by a lack of response to critical issues and poor handling of our country's soccer and Olympics teams, which have become something of an embarrassment. Yet he has not come up with a plan to resuscitate our ailing teams.
He was embroiled in the damning Pillay Commission report into corruption in the Eastern Cape, which alleged that while premier, Stofile, and three other senior ANC members and their families had benefited from an “orchestrated siphoning off” of nearly R200m in public funds. It was set aside at the Grahamstown High Court in May 2009.
Stofile was born in Adelaide in the Eastern Cape. He studied towards a masters degree in Theology at the University of Fort Hare, and he holds the Cabinet record of six degrees: two BAs, one honours, two masters, one from Princeton University, and a doctorate, plus a postgraduate diploma. He played scrum half and wing for the Border Rugby team, and was a loud voice in the campaign towards non-racial sports.
In 1984 he travelled to New Zealand where he lead a successful campaign against the planned All Blacks' tour of South Africa.
After the 1994 democratic elections, Stofile was the ANC's chief whip in Parliament. He held that position until his appointment as Premier of the Eastern Cape in 1997.
Minister of State Security: Siyabonga Cwele
Cwele remains at the head of intelligence, which has been renamed the department of state security. He was appointed by Motlanthe in 2008.
He served in the ANC underground structures from 1984 until 1990. He became a member of Parliament in 1994 and was well regarded as the chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence.
But the committee was criticised for operating behind closed doors and never being open enough. They also trashed the inspector general of intelligence’s report which found against former NIA director general Billy Masetlha in 1996, in the interests of the Zuma camp.
People who have worked with him describe him as hardworking and independent-minded. His public statements have included an emphasis on the basics: intelligence as a means of combating crime and guaranteeing public safety.
Cwele received an MBchB from the University of KwaZulu Natal in 1984, and later also completed his MPhil in Economic Policy at the University of Stellenbosch
His wife, Sheryl Cwele is Director of Health and Community Services at Hibiscus Coast Municipality, and is alleged to have arranged international air flights and a visa for a South Coast woman, Tessa Beetge, who was found in possession of more than R3m of raw cocaine in São Paulo, Brazil, in June 2008.
Minister in The Presidency (1) National Planning Commission: Trevor Manuel
Manuel is a favourite among investors for his management of
the economy over the past 13 years and presiding over
market-friendly policies.
The 53-year-old was appointed to the post in 1996, making
him one of the world's longest serving finance ministers, and he
remains one of the highest-ranked members of the ANC.
Manuel's wife Maria Ramos took up a job heading Absa bank in March, which some critics say could
present a conflict of interest. He married her in December 2008.
It still remains unclear exactly what the new National Planning Commission will do. The ANC's leftist partners have long wanted Manuel removed from the treasury - he is now at the head of the commission, which "will be responsible for strategic planning for the country to ensure one National Plan to which all spheres of government would adhere".
Meanwhile several analysts have worried about the power this commission would give to an individual who would come after Manuel - if it is someone from the left. Manuel's position is by no means secure, and there has been speculation that his is a temporary appointment to appease the markets, and he may well go on to take up an attractive international position.
Minister in The Presidency (2) Performance Monitoring and Evaluation as well as Administration in the Presidency: Collins Chabane
Another new position, it is envisaged that Chabane, 49, will whip government into shape and combat the image of public servants as lazy and slow.
But he is largely unknown. Columnist Justice Malala wrote: "He will work closely with Manuel and Zuma. This means the man is instantly the most powerful individual in the Cabinet. He can fire any minister."
Chabane has been in charge of the ANC’s transition committee for a year and a half. He is a former finance MEC in Limpopo and a former Umkhonto weSizwe fighter, who is highly influential in the MK veterans’ association and whose contacts are numerous in the ANC hierarchy.
Those who know him say he is an incredibly hard worker who never misses an appointment, said Malala.
ANC spokesperson Lindiwe Zulu said Chabane too would be held accountable. “We are not talking about micro-managing comrades but we need accountability because previously we had ANC members who were deployed in government and ended up using the resources they had access to to undermine the party."
Minister of Tourism: Marthinus van Schalkwyk
Political survivor, Van Schalkwyk, has endured his own National Party's dissolution and now the ANC's succession battle. He is kept on in one half of his former portfolio of environmental affairs and tourism, in what is being seen as an effective demotion.
However he has been an able minister and earned respect in his portfolio, with his department spending 99% of its budget allocation in the last financial year, and Van Schalkwyk putting climate change on the agenda.
Environmental affairs will now be coupled with water, under the less able Buyelwa Sonjica.
But his unpopular decisions included the granting of a mining licence for the Wild Coast dunes, rampant rhino poaching, approval of a new coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga and a new international airport on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast next to a crucial swallows’ roosting¬ site.
He continues in tourism as a critical time for the country ahead of the 2010 soccer world cup.
Meanwhile experts say South Africa's role in the international climate change negotiations may be compromised by his removal from environmental affairs, noting he was well known in the talks and has played a pivotal role.
Minister of Trade and Industry: Rob Davies
Formerly a deputy at the department, Davies is a welcome replacement of Mandisi Mpahlwa - who was considered inept in the portfolio. Davies has been one of the department's successes at handling complicated matters of trade agreements in a highly skilled and mainly successful way. He is also one of a number of senior members of the SACP recognised by Zuma in the cabinet.
He has a doctorate from Sussex University and a focus on economics and has been a member of Parliament since 1994.
Davies will be working closely with new Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, with whom he shares a common history in the SACP, to ensure effective departmental co-ordination. Job creation will be a shared and driving passion - as well as a belief in the importance of an adequately capacitated developmental state for SA.
Minister of Transport: Sbusiso Joel Ndebele
Ndebele entered his first week in office with a bang, making headlines when he was given a Mercedes Benz valued at about R1m as a gift. He has since voluntarily returned the car and other gifts to the Vukuzakhe emerging contractors, sparking a debate as to whether Zuma should have left the decision to Ndebele, and not ruled on the matter. The incident was seen as the first test of the administration's dedication to clean government.
Ndebele was transport MEC for KwaZulu-Natal from 1994 till 2004. He was lauded for establishing the emerging contractors Vukuzakhe programme for road construction in 1996. The programme awarded contracts close to R10bn, empowering poor local contractors. He was premier from 2004 till 2009, and said his appointment as transport minister came as a surprise.
He takes over from Jeff Radebe and has the hefty job of continuing massive infrastructure and transport roll-out before the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Government has ramped up transport spending generally - on road infrastructure, the Gautrain, the Gauteng freeway scheme, airports and passenger rail. But he will face challenges on many fronts, not least of which is BRT.
While government says the vaunted rapid bus transit system is on track in the major cities, Ndebele will have to deal with angry taxi operators who threaten to destabilise work as they feel left out of the planning. But if all goes according to plan the country can look forward to a transformed public transport system come 2010 and beyond.
Deputy Minister of Transport: Jeremy Cronin
In yet another nod to the SACP, Zuma appointed their deputy general secretary of the SACP since 1995, respected intellectual Jeremy Cronin, as Ndebele's deputy. Cronin, 59, is a former lecturer of philosophy and dedicated Marxist, as well as a poet.
Cronin was a political prisoner for seven years (1976-1983) at Pretoria Maximum Security Prison His first poems collection, Inside (1983), reflects on that experience. Other collections include, Even the Dead (1997) and Inside and Out (1999).
He has commended the new planning commission as a victory for the left, despite Manuel’s position at the head, saying that the Cabinet must carry out a radical overhaul of government policies if it is to succeed in wiping out inequality.
He was brought up in a middle-class white Roman Catholic family in Rondebosch, Cape Town, and considered going into the priesthood at one stage.
Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs: Buyelwa Sonjica
Sonjica, 59, is back in the position she held from 2004 to 2006 - although some thought her tenure there underwhelming. She served as minister for minerals and energy from 2006 till 2009. Reports have joked that she moves from causing global warming to curing it. Given her former position and priorities, Koos Pretorius, of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, is worried that Sonjica may decide in favour of mining over the environment, the Sunday Tribune reported.
Those who crossed her path during her previous tenure concede that while it was too short to leave any kind of lasting legacy, she was not remembered as an individual with conservation on her mind.
But industry insiders have lauded Zuma's decision to uncouple environmental affairs from tourism and add it to the water affairs portfolio. DA environment spokesperson Gareth Morgan said Sonjica would have a difficult portfolio to manage and matters requiring her urgent attention included SA's negotiating platform at the upcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen, which former minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk had excelled in. Wessa (Wildlife and Environment Society of SA) said it was "very pleased" that water had been prioritised.
Sonjica has a long history in the party from her days of student politics in East London, and has steadily risen through the ranks. She is known in Eastern Cape education and political circles, having taught at schools in the province between 1979 and 1994. She obtained a BA degree, majoring in English and Xhosa, from Vista and a further BA (Honours) in Xhosa from Rhodes.
Minister of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities: Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya
In a nod to Cosatu, one of the most powerful and influential women in the trade union movement, the president of the health union (Nehawu) Mayende-Sibiya was installed at the head of this newly created ministry.
Zuma said the ministry would help emphasise the need for equity and access to development opportunities for the vulnerable groups of society. It's not clear yet whether the ministry would be based in the Presidency or not.
Mayende-Sibiya also serves as a co-convener for the South African Progressive Women. She has a clear understanding of the need to bring women into the mainstream of the South African economy and national life, and is an advocate for the recognition of the unwaged work of women, Gender Links reported.
The ministry has already been caught in the cross-fire between the DA-lead Western Cape and the ANC over gender representations in their respective government structures.
While the new cabinet has 41% women representation as part of Zuma's drive to achieve gender parity, Gender Links has said a lack of female deputy ministers - which is seen as training ground - is problematic, as is the calibre of some of the female appointments.
Sources: The Mail and Guardian cabinet report Card 2008,
South African History Online, Government communication and information
system (GCIS), BuaNews, The Times, Wikipedia, Business Report, Beeld,
The Herald, Reuters, The Sunday Tribune, The Sowetan.