President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce cabinet reshuffle on Monday

President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce a cabinet reshuffle on Monday at 7pm, his office confirmed on Sunday. Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya  briefed the media at the Union Buildings on Sunday following widespread speculation that the president had postponed a previously planned announcement on Thursday.

Magwenya said this was not true as there was never a deadline or date set for the announcement of a new executive. “Throughout this week, the president has attended to his duties while treating a common cold. You may recall the president’s discomfort was visible during his public appearances as part of the state visit by President Yoweri Museveni of the Republic of Uganda.

“Among the tasks the president undertook this week was continued consultation around forthcoming changes to the national executive. But contrary to media coverage and speculation on social platforms, there was no plan for the president to announce changes to cabinet on Thursday. As a result, there was no postponement or cancellation of such an announcement,” Magwenya said.

He said the accusations and misinformation regarding the cabinet reshuffle were completely unjustified.

“While he is still nursing his cold, the president is finalising his reconfiguration of the national executive. Furthermore, there have been parliamentary processes such as the swearing in of certain members of parliament that the president needed to take account of while he is finalising the formation of the executive. “The president appreciates the importance of putting in place a national executive that will build on the commitments government has made for faster growth through our investment drive, economic reforms, public employment programmes and an expanding infrastructure programme,” he said. 

When pushed for comment around why it has taken so long to make the announcement, Magwenya said there had never been a deadline for the cabinet reshuffle. “We have, a number of times, clarified that there was never a set date for president to reconfigure his cabinet or a deadline for this. The president needed to take account of the process which included swearing in of MPs. I wouldn’t characterise this as the president being absent,” he said.

Magwenya also commented on pictures surfacing this weekend of Ramaphosa attending a dinner on his Phala Phala farm. “On Friday, the president honoured an engagement of the Ntaba Nyoni Cattle Stud. This was a dinner preceding an annual auction.

The dates for these events were scheduled a number of months ago. In view of his discomfort, the president made a brief stop at Friday’s dinner to greet guests. “President Ramaphosa did not attend the auction itself the following day as his cold persisted and required that he should rest,” he said.

nkosin@sowetan.co.za