.Missed Opportunities in Cabinet Reshuffle
The President missed a good opportunity to correct a few wrongs in his recent Cabinet reshuffle - the first since November, 2018.
The changes he made could be interpreted in many ways, but in the main, I believe people see them as either those of a statesman or - on the other hand - a politician! Whatever the conclusion, there are pros and cons involved and Ramaphosa may indeed be characterised by some as a President who puts the interests of the people first while others may feel he prioritises party politics.
People will draw different conclusions based on their circumstances as well as the political expectations they have of him.
In my opinion, the President missed an opportunity in the reshuffle to correct a few wrongs in the structure of his executive as well as the chance to integrate the Department of Basic Education into Higher Education, Science and Technology. This could have demonstrated to South Africans that he is a real statesman rather than a pure politician.
Below I rationalise my position and provide a possible way forward:
On the 5 August 2021, Ramaphosa made his first Cabinet reshuffle brought on largely by the unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal during which infrastructure was destroyed and lives were lost. The looting, burning of infrastructure and senseless killing of more than 300 people were akin to one of those ‘forgotten darkest days of apartheid’ in South Africa as was the Marikana incident. The pressure from all corners of society propelled the President to act swiftly and be seen to be in charge. This pressure culminated in the Cabinet reshuffle and realignment of the executive structure. Notwithstanding the fact that there were already various ministerial vacancies that needed to be filled, the structural realignment was noted, ie the unbundling of the Department of Water and Sanitation from the Department of Human Settlements, and the absorption of the Department of State Security into the Presidency.
The reasons provided by the President were that he wanted to improve the capacity of his government in undertaking its tasks as well as to safeguard the security and integrity of the nation. The reasons are sound and plausible but he missed an opportunity to be more intrepid as the President.
The question is this: Would he have made these changes if the looting had not taken take place? South Africans have the right to ask whether the priority of our politicians is the wellbeing of all the country’s citizens - are they really interested in following the noble ideals of their own campaign slogans once in office?
In the South African context, there are two key issues we need to confront: the bloated Cabinet and the need for a strategic realignment of government departments/ministries. Does the current size of the Cabinet assist the executive to discharge its duties in a more effective and efficient way? As a developing country, do we really need such a big Cabinet? What are our ministers and deputy ministers actually doing?
It is worth noting that in the former President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet there were 38 ministries, and that number was reduced to 28 in 2019 when Ramaphosa took over - kudos to him. However, Ramaphosa missed a great opportunity to further realign these ministries, such as scrapping the deputy ministers’ positions. Currently we have over 37 deputies with no executive authority - they are merely there as the managers of the departments of government.
Also, what is the role of the Director Generals (DGs) in government? The reality is both these portfolios end up duplicating responsibilities.
If we are serious about the efficacy of the government, we need to ask ourselves these questions and begin to think about the impact the bloated structure has on the economy. These ministers and deputy ministers are a huge drain on the country’s purse. With the economy in trouble and the situation exacerbated by COVID-19, the country needs judicious fiscal management more than ever before. If we can prune unnecessary expenditure, we will probably see a significant improvement in our fiscal health. In the end, these congested layers of responsibility breed unwanted bureaucracies, corruption, and poor service delivery.
The President gave compelling reasons why he merged the State Security Department with the Presidency, however, I think the real opportunity that was missed was to re-merge the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education and Training. Since 2009, those two departments have proved beyond reasonable doubt that their separation was an administrative flop - there were more disadvantages than advantages in unbundling them.
Noteworthy is the fact that in 2019 the Department of Science and Technology was successfully merged with the Department of Higher Education and Training.
The Cabinet reshuffle presented a unique opportunity, I believe, to rethink/reimagine the entire education system and opportunities.
It is necessary here to highlight the resultant impact of this missed opportunity on management, governance, funding, and curriculum redesign: (1) the management of the two departments is currently fragmented; (2) the financial structure is proving very expensive to sustain; financing separate ministries with poorly articulated needs analysis is costly; (3) at governance and policy level the departments are misaligned; (4) curriculum articulation from lower grades to post-matric is disjointed and in tatters; and (5) the Department of Labour is not strategically aligned with these departments.
As things stand, these two departments are not providing South Africans with the quality education they so long for.
I believe if we can return to one ministry that oversees both departments more efficiently, a lot of things will improve. There is no logical reason for the two to remain separate.
It is generally agreed that presidents are judged on the diverse societal and political expectations of the electorate and polarisation of South Africa’s politics, socio-cultural orientation, and the diversity in general does not make it easy for a president to satisfy everyone.
However, I believe President Ramaphosa should stand tall above party politics and act in the interests of all the people. He should have been braver and made bolder changes.
I believe these long overdue changes can still be made and result in significant improvements in the governance of South Africa. We need decisive leadership with an honest assessment of the environment required to help provide direction for the country.
A slimmer more efficient Cabinet can help provide the long-yearned for culture of accountability while a strategic realignment of certain government departments can help channel resources more efficiently and effectively and - in due course - yield better results.
Mr Khumbulani Mngadi is a Projects Coordinator for the Language Planning and Development Office (ULPDO) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.