Sit back, relax, have a cup of coffee and watch this space.

This is what President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday when asked when he will reshuffle his cabinet after the ANC's 55th national conference.

Ramaphosa, speaking at the presidential golf day at the Bloemfontein Golf Club, said he will not give in to media pressure on imminent changes to the cabinet.

“That is the most pre-eminent thing in your thoughts. Just obliterate that and wait for the moment when the president will have applied his mind and stop asking when is that going to happen.

“So relax. Have a cup of coffee, sit back and watch this space,” he said, chuckling.

The president is expected to axe some ministers who have not made the cut into the new ANC national executive committee (NEC) and introduce newcomers to the powerful structure.

This while the country is also waiting to see how Ramaphosa will deal with those in his executive who have been a thorn in his side, such as tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu and co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Freshly elected ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has said they will lobby Ramaphosa to include “youthful” ministers in his government to accelerate service delivery.

Ramaphosa said the conference, which finished in the early hours of Friday, was much more successful than his tee-off on the golf course.

“It hasn’t happened in terms of playing golf for more than a year. So I am not well practised and have been engaged in things of the state and the organisation instead of playing golf.”

He valued the engagement with golfers and supporters of the ANC. The golf day is part of the build-up to the party’s 111th birthday celebration in Mangaung on Sunday.

“It also shows the ANC still has quite a hold on a number of people and our task as we conclude the conference, in our declarations we said we must go and reach out to our people and make the ANC have the influence it used to have.”

Ramaphosa said the task is to ensure resolutions taken at the conference are implemented.

“So the ANC is well-geared and prepared to take the lives of our people further and better. All that remains now is action and implementation, which we are going to focus on because the ANC is renewing itself.

“Once the ANC renews and unites itself, it becomes a formidable force. A mighty force that it has always been and so that’s what we are going to focus on.

“Everyone has a sense that we must accept and work with the leadership that has been elected.”

He believes the party has kicked off the year on a good note and the sky was the limit as it marches to the 2024 national and provincial polls.

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