Cape Town — Opposition party, ActionSA, has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint suitable candidates into ministerial roles when he announces his new cabinet as tensions start to grow in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Ramaphosa is expected to announce his new cabinet in the coming days.
Expectations are high as to who will be appointed in which position as the GNU begins to take shape. With 10 parties now part of the GNU, more candidates will be competing for ministerial positions.
ActionSA, who are not part of the GNU and have identified themselves as one of the leading opposition parties, believes Ramaphosa has a tough balancing act when it comes to assigning ministerial roles, especially after some of the political parties, however, have publicly demanded specific Cabinet ministries, IOL reported.
“Cyril Ramaphosa does not have a good record in putting his foot down, unfortunately for South Africa. I think the parties that have joined, for example, Patriotic Alliance, made no bones about it … Gayton McKenzie said he was looking for at least one ministerial position, either home affairs or police, and possibly two positions.” ActionSA caucus leader in the National Assembly, Athol Trollip, said.
“Cyril Ramaphosa is gonna have to balance that. But the biggest balancing act is keeping their main partner, the Democratic Alliance in this GNU. It looks like it is getting really wobbly,” Trollip added.
📹 WATCH: ActionSA Parliamentary Caucus Leader @AtholT calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint a competent and qualified individual to head the Police Ministry when he announces his Cabinet.
To combat crime effectively and restore the Rule of Law in South Africa, we need… pic.twitter.com/tRn0sKs4s5
— ActionSA (@Action4SA) June 23, 2024
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, he said that Ramaphosa will face challenges from parties within the GNU to ensure everyone is happy.
“Cyril Ramaphosa’s biggest challenge is how to deal with his GNU, the more parties that come on board, the demands they are going to have, and its apparent that it’s biggest partner, the DA, is getting very touchy about other parties joining the GNU,” he said.
“As more and more parties come on board, the DA is getting more and more tetchy and, I think what’s going to be very difficult for Cyril Ramaphosa is to keep the size of the cabinet down, and meet the demands of the new partners, and secondly, he is going to have to deal with former ministers that haven’t done their work very well.” he added.
ActionSA is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint a suitable police minister when he announces his cabinet. The party’s parliamentary caucus leader Athol Trollip says it is a great relief that Bheki Cele has taken some time off from his portfolio and a suitable… pic.twitter.com/n4silx2vpO
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) June 23, 2024
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Picture: X/@Action4SA
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
