President Cyril Ramaphosa To Reshuffle Cabinet

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is all set to announce changes to his cabinet on Monday, according to his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.

During a media interaction held in Pretoria Sunday, Magwenya noted that after Ramaphosa became president of the African National Congress again in December 2022, he is planning to revamp his cabinet.

Ramaphosa first became President of South Africa in February 2018 after Jacob Zuma's resignation. The former President of South Africa ran the office from 2009 to 2018. Last year in December, Ramaphosa secured his second term as President of the African National Congress.

"The president is finalizing his reconfiguration of the national executive and he is taking into account the swearing-in of some members of parliament before announcing the reshuffle," Magwenya said, Punch reported.

Magwenya further explained the reason behind making a new team in the cabinet.

The new team will help to "build on the commitments [that] government has made for faster growth through our investment drive, economic reforms, public employment programs, and expanding infrastructure programs."

The cabinet changes will be announced on Monday at 7:00 p.m.

The reshuffle announcement was made after the former Mayor of Pretoria, Kgosientso Ramokgopa was announced as electricity minister on March 1.

There are several roles that are vacant at this moment including the new deputy president as David Mabuza, who was serving as Deputy President from February 2018 to February 2023, had resigned from his position earlier this month.

The Minister of Public Service and Administration position, which was occupied by Ayanda Dlodlo, is also vacant and Ramaphosa is expected to announce a name to fill this position too alongside a new transport minister.

Ramaphosa, who served as the Secretary-General of the African National Congress from 1991 to 1997, first ran for president of South Africa in 1999 but he lost against former President, Thabo Mbeki.

Following the defeat, he quit politics then and became a successful businessman in several sectors including telecommunications, banking and mining. However, he restarted his political career in 2012 and was successfully elected as the Deputy President of the African National Congress.

Ramaphosa went on to become the President of South Africa in February 2018 and now that he has been re-elected as a president of the African National Congress, he will also be running for a second term in 2024.

Considering the cabinet meeting held last week, Ramaphosa discussed his plans to tackle major issues in the country like energy challenges, poverty, reduce unemployment, crime rate, corruption, and the rising cost of living.

As per the quarterly labor force survey, there is a "significant decrease in the rate of unemployment in the country. The official rate decreased by 0.2 percent from 32.9% to 32.7 percent."

Cabinet also encouraged all eligible voters to register themselves online at the official website for casting their vote in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.