Ramaphosa announces cabinet reshuffle
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced changes to the executive, largely implementing changes requested by the Democratic Alliance, and bringing a disgraced former minister back into cabinet.
The president said the changes to DA positions were made in consultation with the DA as a member of the Government of National Unity.
These will affect the Ministries of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Trade, Industry and Competition, Electricity and Energy, Higher Education, and Water and Sanitation.
The following changes have been made to ministerial portfolios:
- Willem Aucamp as the Minister of Agriculture,
- David Maynier as Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.
The following changes have been made to deputy minister posts:
- John Steenhuisen as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition,
- Alexandra Abrahams as Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy,
- Jack Bloom as Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation,
- Yusuf Cassim as Deputy Minister of Higher Education.
In addition to shuffling DA representation around in the national executive, Ramaphosa also appointed Dina Pule as the Minister of Social Development.
The position was left vacant after former minister Sisisi Tolashe was dismissed by the president in May, following a series of scandals and damning allegations against her.
Pule has been the Deputy Secretary-General of the ANC Women’s League since July 2023 and was earmarked for the role in earlier reports.
Notably, Pule’s return to the national executive has its own controversial history, after she, too, was fired following findings of unethical conduct in 2012/13.
Pule had previously served as the Minister of Communications under Jacob Zuma.
She was appointed to that role in October 2011, having served as Deputy Minister of the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation between 2010 and 2011.
Between 2009 and 2010, she served as Deputy Minister of Communications.
However, during her time leading the then-Communications Department, she had been embroiled in a number of scandals, which culminated in a Public Protector investigation into allegations against her.
The scandal centred on her romantic relationship with a businessman who had benefited financially from his proximity to her.
Pule had denied the relationship and attempted to conceal it, but was eventually forced to admit to it after the investigations dove into the scandal.
In 2013, former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela ordered Pule to apologise to Parliament for “persistently lying and unethical conduct”.
Pule was also found guilty by the Parliamentary Ethics and Members’ Interests Committee of violating the Executive Members’ Ethics Code.
She was ultimately reprimanded and suspended by Parliament, in addition to being sacked by Zuma in a 2013 cabinet reshuffle.
After more than a decade out of frontline politics and the National Assembly, Pule returned to Parliament as an ANC MP following the 2024 national elections. She has now returned to cabinet.
Ramaphosa wished all the incoming Ministers and Deputy Ministers well in their new roles.
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