The ANC’s Fikile Mbalula is adamant that there is nothing untoward about the process surrounding the imminent Cabinet reshuffle.
The governing party’s secretary-general slammed rumours that ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile was being deliberately blocked by President Ramaphosa’s close allies.
Mbalula was speaking at a media briefing at ANC headquarters where he also revealed the resolutions of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on Monday, 20 February.
Mbalula said he had addressed the ANC caucus and assured them that the government would not keep them in the dark about Mashatile’s political future.
#ANCNEC Rev Frank Chikane will now chair the party's Integrity Commission , Deputy is Sophie De Bryun. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/6PUPlhYyDD
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“We have been dealing with January 8, we have produced January 8, we have finalised our resolutions and we have reconfigured ourselves in terms of the NEC. We have finalised the resolutions of the conference, they are ready to be printed. Now we are developing a programme of action.
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“In government, we had the State of the Nation Address, then the Budget, and from there all of these issues we’ve got to have answers for, and then they’ll be closed.
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“All these things should be wrapped up within the month of February … the president is applying his mind on a whole lot of issues,” said Mbalula.
During the State of the Nation Address, Ramaphosa said he was still considering David Mabuza’s resignation as deputy president of the country, and used the opportunity to pay tribute to his outgoing second-in-command.
Mabuza confirmed at the beginning of the month that he had resigned to allow Paul Mashatile to replace him. However, Ramaphosa has not been ready to let go of Mabuza just yet.
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Not only did Mabuza fail to be re-elected at the ANC’s 55th conference in December 2022, he also no longer occupies a seat on the NEC – the party’s highest decision-making body between conferences. DM