His window of opportunity to install an administration free of
ministers tainted by graft and to impose tough economic reforms may
not remain open for long. The ruling party’s 5 percentage-point drop
in support in the May 8 election from 2014 -- its worst showing in a
national vote since the end of apartheid -- testifies to the public
anger over “state capture,” as the looting of public funds under his
predecessor, Jacob Zuma, is known.
While Ramaphosa fired several ministers with tainted reputations when
he replaced Zuma as president last year, others kept their posts. They
include Environmental Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, who was
implicated in taking bribes during an official probe, and Bathabile
Dlamini, the minister for women’s affairs accused by the
Constitutional Court of lying under oath about her tenure at the
$11-billion-a-year welfare department, which almost collapsed. Both
deny wrongdoing.
“If ever he has had a platform to act against and cut these figures
from his cabinet, it’s now,” Susan Booysen, director of research at
the Johannesburg-based Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection,
said in an interview. “If he does not use this opening, he’s going to
lose it.”
Investors will focus on whether Tito Mboweni, appointed as finance
minister in October, retains his post. While the former central bank
governor has said publicly he would prefer to step down, his
acceptance of a nomination to parliament indicates he may be prepared
to stay on.
The president has the sole prerogative to select ministers from the
National Assembly’s 400 lawmakers, although he can choose two from
people outside its ranks.
Ramaphosa hasn’t revealed his preferences, but the ANC’s list of
candidate lawmakers gives an indication of who’s in the running. They
include most members of the current cabinet,

including Mboweni, Deputy
President David Mabuza, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe, Public
Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Mineral Resources Minister
Gwede Mantashe.
Mokonyane and Dlamini also made the cut, as did Malusi Gigaba, who
resigned as home affairs minister after a court found he’d lied under
oath and a compromising video of him was circulated on social media.
The new administration needs to move speedily to revive an economy
that has expanded at an annual pace of less than 1.5% for the past
four years and tackled a 27 percent unemployment rate by reducing
policy uncertainty and bolstering private investment, according to
Raymond Parsons, a professor at the North West University’s School of
Business and Governance.
Sluggish Economy
The economy hasn`t grown by more than 2% annually since 2013
Source: Statistics South Africa
“A key test will include the selection of a credible and streamlined
cabinet that also enjoys the confidence of business and the markets,”
he said.
Before the election, Ramaphosa’s reticence to carry out a clean sweep
may stem from his tenuous hold on the ANC in the aftermath of a
hard-fought internal election that’s left the party deeply divided has
resulted in some Zuma allies remaining in top party posts.
Ramaphosa, who’s due to be elected at the new parliament’s first
sitting on May 22 and sworn in three days later, called his outgoing
cabinet of 34 ministers and 35 deputies a holding administration.
While Fikile Mbalula, the ANC’s head of elections, said Ramaphosa had
the party’s full backing to trim the cabinet and it may be reduced to
fewer than 30 ministers, party Secretary-General Ace Magashule said
the matter has yet to be discussed. V.2835

There are fears that more people will be separated by the introduction of a minimum salary level for those wanting UK family visas. Families living in the UK and abroad have raised concerns about what new rules will mean for them as they try to reunite with foreign spouses. In December, the Home Office, which says migration to the UK is too high, announced a package of measures to reduce net migration, following a spike in arrival numbers. V.5318
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An Ethiopian asylum seeker, who does not speak English, claims he was duped by a senior immigration official into paying an admission of guilt fine when he thought he was paying for bail.Two Western Cape High Court judges have condemned the official`s `deplorable` behaviour, set aside the fine, and ordered the immigration official be taken off the case. Tsegaye Esyas claims Annelise van Dyk treated him like an animal which led to him attempt suicide while in police cells. V.5320
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EREMY MAGGS: I want to stay with crime now. Individuals with a criminal record may be faced with significant challenges when seeking employment, I think that’s a given. Here in South Africa, employers may legally exclude an applicant from consideration for a position if having a clean criminal record is what is termed an inherent requirement of the job. That phrase, inherent requirement, is important, but what exactly does that mean, and when can an applicant be lawfully excluded for having a criminal record? V.5321
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As a South African who has adopted a nomadic work lifestyle alongside my wife, Ingrid Lotze, I’ve been an interested observer of South Africa’s snail-pace digital nomad visa (DNV) development process. Despite the optimism surrounding its introduction, the visa seems to miss several crucial marks for digital nomads like us. V.5322
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DA MP says hours lost continue to result in persons being unable to collect their ID documents due to unmanageable queues The DA has been inundated with complaints that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) systems are offline, resulting in long queues and delayed processing of documents. Through questions posed to the Minister, the DA can now reveal that the DHA has lost over 77 years’ worth of working hours due to system downtime and load-shedding from 2019 to date. Concerningly, this data only relates to hours lost for the application of smart IDs, meaning decades more of working hours could have been additionally lost in other spheres such as passport or visa applications. V.5314
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Home Affairs’ seemingly endless court battles set the department back more than R110-million between April 2023 and the end of February this year. This was revealed in a written parliamentary response by minister Aaron Motsoaledi. He said the department accumulated a litigation bill of R117 692 996.3, higher than the R72 637 944.51 spent the year before. V.5315
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Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) this week revealed that Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) has achieved a ground-breaking milestone by processing more than 10 million passengers over a single financial year. This is the highest number of regional and international passengers processed since COVID-19 V.5316
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In recent years, South Africa has seen a significant influx of immigrants from various African countries, as well as other parts of the world. This has raised important questions about the country`s immigration policies and their impact on job creation for both locals and immigrants. The South African immigration system, like many other countries, is a complex and ever-evolving process that aims to balance the country`s economic needs with its social and cultural interests. Let`s take a closer look at how this system intersects with job creation in South Africa. The South African government implemented the Immigration Act of 2002, which outlines the country`s immigration policies and procedures. Under this act, foreigners are required to obtain a visa or permit to enter, work, or study in South Africa. The type of visa or permit required depends on the intended purpose of the individual`s visit and their country of origin. V.5312
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Due to system downtime and load-shedding, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) lost nearly 141,000 hours of Smart ID application and production time between the 2019/20 and 2022/23 financial years. Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed this figure in a recent response to questions raised in Parliament by Democratic Alliance MP Adrian Roos. Motsoaledi provided a breakdown of smart ID production and application hours lost to technical difficulties and load-shedding per province for each financial year from 2019/2020. These disruptions hit home Affairs offices in the Eastern Cape the hardest, with over 34,000 hours to rotational power cuts and system downtime. Mpumalanga offices lost the next-highest number of hours at 17 V.5313
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Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has said the public has shown great support for the final White Paper on citizenship, immigration and refugee protection which appeared in the Government Gazette on Wednesday. Briefing the media, he addressed what he saw as a long-overdue need to replace an outdated Citizenship Act, as well as enact proposed changes to existing legislation. V.5306
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