For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines: Ramaphosa faces criticism over reassignment of embattled Minister Thembi Simelane; DA calls for Johannesburg city manager Floyd Brink’s removal following court judgment; And, National Treasury notes Moody’s reaffirmation of South Africa’s junk status

Ramaphosa faces criticism over reassignment of embattled Minister Thembi Simelane

Political parties have condemned President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent Cabinet reshuffle, in which he moved embattled Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Thembi Simelane to the Human Settlements Ministry.

Yesterday, Ramaphosa announced immediate national executive changes. There have been persistent calls for Ramaphosa to fire Simelane.

He swapped Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi with Simelane, with each taking over the other's Ministry.

Democratic Alliance Justice and Constitutional Development spokesperson Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach said Simelane’s move to another Ministry was “short-sighted and disrespectful to South Africa”.

ActionSA rejected what it called Ramaphosa’s “last-ditch cowardly” Cabinet reshuffle.

The Economic Freedom Fighters said Ramaphosa’s reshuffle as a pointless exercise, while the uMkhonto weSizwe Party said it was a calculated move to silence Simelane, who the party described as “a principled leader” who did not align to Ramaphosa's “factional and self-serving agenda”.

DA calls for Johannesburg city manager Floyd Brink’s removal following court judgment

The Democratic Alliance today called for the removal of City of Joburg city manager Floyd Brink after the South Gauteng High Court ruled that his reappointment had been “unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid”.

DA Johannesburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said the court upheld what the party had maintained since Brink’s “problematic” tenure began.

The court ordered that Brink must vacate his office within 10 days.

She said the CoJ had received an “expensive education” in the rule of law.

And, National Treasury notes Moody’s reaffirmation of South Africa’s junk status

National Treasury has noted Moody’s decision to affirm the country’s long-term foreign and local currency debt ratings at Ba2 – otherwise known as non-investment grade or junk status – and maintain a stable outlook.

According to Moody’s, while the ratings affirmation reflects South Africa's credit strengths from effective, core institutions such as the judiciary and the central bank, a robust, deep financial sector and a solid external position, it also acknowledges chronic challenges posed by the country's inequalities, which hamper reform progress and fuel social risk, as well as persistent structural constraints on economic growth, and a relatively high and costly debt.

National Treasury said today that it welcomes Moody’s acknowledgment that the Government of National Unity will pursue structural reforms and ease growth bottlenecks.

It said government was pursuing policies to achieve rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, claiming that economic reforms were beginning to bear fruit.

Specifically, it noted that electricity availability had improved and that the logistics system was stabilising, while the cost of doing business was declining in some areas of the economy.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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