There has been mixed reaction to the composition of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s seventh administration Cabinet which he announced on Sunday.
NUMSA’s General Secretary Irvin Jim said Ramaphosa’s failure to include the EFF and MK made a mockery of the “absolute lie” which he said carried through the propaganda to legitimise the DA and the IFP.
“It’s absolutely stupid and wrong not to have both the MK and EFF in government. Where are they in this Cabinet? This is absolutely stupid and personal. It has got nothing to do with advancing the interests.
“We call for a revolutionary agenda that fully implements the Freedom Charter, we call for public ownership of all commanding heights of the economy,” he said.
Jim, however, commended Ramaphosa for not including the DA in the economic cluster.
“Cyril did a good thing to keep DA away from our country’s economic cluster. However, we are firm as Numsa in rejecting ANC and DA’s GNU. The ANC must go back to the basics of a revolutionary agenda and dump the DA. It should go back to the 1969 Morogoro conference.”
In its statement, the EFF said the president’s announcement had confirmed its long-standing view that the GNU was “nothing but a smokescreen for the ANC to secure a predetermined grand coalition with the racist DA”.
The party also criticised the impact of the “increased and bloated” Cabinet which would be funded by taxpayers’ money.
Meanwhile, tripartite alliance partner, Cosatu, welcomed the new administration, saying it hoped the newly appointed Cabinet would hit the ground running.
SAFTU General Secretary Zwelenzima Vavi expressed his disappointed that the DA had a large number of portfolios.
Vavi also raised concerns that the Education portfolio would be going to the DA.
However, he admitted that the country’s education system had failed, putting the blame solely at the door of the ANC.
The South African Democratic Teachers Union also raised concerns about the appointment of Siviwe Gwarube as the new Basic Education Minister.
The union said the new appointment was not in the country’s best interest but rather that of political parties.
Ramaphosa has called for the opening of the new Parliament on July 18 to address MPs and outline guidelines for how his new coalition government, involving 11 parties, will work.
The Star