ActionSA expresses concern that while backroom negotiations for cushy ministerial positions continues, ordinary South Africans wait with bated breath to see when their interests will take centre stage over the endless party-political horse trading. 

As the country awaits the announcement of the Cabinet, ongoing negotiations have featured a phenomenon where critical issues, such as the size of an already bloated cabinet and Executive accountability, are apparently being negotiated away in opaque discussions, parts of which are only known to citizens through strategically curated leaks. 

In the absence of any ambiguity that the business of government is being delayed by the intense jockeying for positions by parties in the ANC/DA+ coalition, ActionSA believes that this disservice hampers the significant work that the 7th Administration must undertake to address the many pressing issues facing communities across South Africa.

As previously expressed, the fact that President Ramaphosa's commitment to reduce the size of the cabinet, communicated before Parliament, has seen a dramatic U-turn, with the buy-in from parties who ostensibly campaigned against cabinet wastage, is a sign that we are in uncharted territory where principles and commitments are publicly sacrificed on the altar of expediency and access to power and patronage.

Furthermore, as evidenced by the leaked letter from the DA to the ANC, the attempt to politically ringfence the appointment of Directors-General is a notably worrying development that will undoubtedly deepen partisanship and patronage within the public service. Beyond the troubling resemblance to the ANC's disastrous cadre deployment policy, this is further evidence that the ANC/DA + coalition arrangement continues to prioritise compromise over principles and commitments to advancing the interests of South Africans and ensuring good governance.

In recognition of the daunting mountain of work that challenges the 7th Administration, ActionSA calls on the governing coalition to realign their priorities with the needs and interests of South Africans and not their own parochial needs.

 

Issued by ActionSA Parliamentary Caucus Leader Athol Trollip