The South African Police Union (Sapu) on Friday welcomed the appointment of the “young and energetic” new Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, and said it hoped for more “glamorous” police awards to motivate the law enforcement men and women.

The union said the police department was in a crisis and that it previously called for former minister Nathi Nhleko and his deputy Maggie Sotyu to be fired.

“Sapu welcomes the appointment of minister Fikile Mbalula, a very energetic and younger minister who was once a deputy minister of the police. The appointment of Mr Fikile Mbalula as the new police minister and Mr Bongani Mkongi as his deputy is a positive step towards stabilising this vital department,” the union said on Friday.

“On a lighter note, we hope to see glamorous police excellence awards that will motivate the men and women in blue on the ground to do more. We pledge to work well with new political leadership of the police that will improve service delivery.”

President Jacob Zuma executed the long-anticipated Cabinet reshuffle late on Thursday night. He fired Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas and replaced them with Malusi Gigaba and Sfiso Buthelezi respectively.

The rand tanked overnight as speculations over the change in the country’s executive raged on.

Zuma announced 10 changes to the Cabinet and 10 more at deputy minister level.

Apart from Gordhan, Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom, who last year supported a move for a motion of no confidence in Zuma at the African National Congress National Executive Committee, was axed from Cabinet. Hanekom said he only found out he had been sacked from media reports and that no reason had been advanced.

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters, Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson and Public Service and Administration Minister Ngoako Ramathlodi, were also fired.