South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s critics denounce new multi-party cabinet

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s critics have been quick to denounce his new multi-party cabinet, saying its make-up is proof the African National Congress has abandoned its role as a liberation movement in Africa.

After more than two weeks of intense negotiations, Mr Ramaphosa unveiled an expanded cabinet on Sunday evening that involves six opposition parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), its main political rival for decades, and the right-wing Freedom Front Plus.

Many black South Africans see the DA and the Freedom Front Plus as representing white people’s interests in their country in the post-apartheid era, which began with the end of white minority rule in 1994.

South Africa’s radical left-wing party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, said Mr Ramaphosa’s new cabinet confirmed the ANC “has abandoned its historical role as a liberation movement in Africa, and solidified its role as an instrument of white supremacy”.

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“We will remain an effective opposition, whose sole responsibility will be to undermine the backward policy advancements of the ANC-DA grand coalition at all levels of government and on the picket lines,” the party said.

The EFF and other opposition parties also criticised the size of Mr Ramaphosa’s new cabinet and executive, which has grown to 32 ministers from 30. There are also 43 deputy minsters, compared with 36 in the last government.

Mr Ramaphosa formed his executive from the 11 political parties that entered into a coalition government with the ANC after a general election in late May that saw the ruling party lose its majority in parliament. It won just over 40 per cent of the vote.

After weeks of negotiations, the ANC secured 20 of the 32 ministries in the coalition government, retaining the key areas of defence, finance and foreign affairs.

The DA, which won just under 22 per cent of the vote on May 29th, secured six ministries, including home affairs and public works and infrastructure, and six deputy minister roles. DA leader John Steenhuisen will lead the agriculture ministry, a sector dominated by white farmers.

Four other parties involved in the unity government, including the Freedom Front Plus and the Inkatha Freedom Party, received minister positions, while smaller coalition participants were allocated various deputy minister roles.

After announcing his cabinet, Mr Ramaphosa said the incoming government would “prioritise rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and the creation of a more just society”.

He added that over the course of the recent cabinet negotiations, the participants had shown “there are no problems that are too difficult or too intractable that cannot be solved through dialogue”.

Mr Steenhuisen said agreement on the cabinet’s make-up paved the way for all parties involved to start delivering for South Africans, and that the time for everyone to collaborate had arrived. “Where the DA is in government, you will be welcomed with an open door and an open hand. Because we know that the time for confrontation is over,” he said.

Although the coalition government members all made positive statements following the cabinet’s announcement, what real progress they can make to improve South Africa’s beleaguered economy will depend on their ability to overcome significant ideological differences.

The DA, for instance, wants to ditch many of the ANC’s black economic empowerment programmes and its cadre deployment policies, saying they benefit only the politically connected business elites and party insiders.

The ANC has refused to walk away from these policies to date, so how the parties navigate central areas of contention like these should provide clues as to whether they can work effectively together.