South Africa’s President Cyril Rampahosa is living up to his reputation as a skilled negotiator and appears to have outpaced his main coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA), in negotiations to form a new government. At the same time, he has taken steps to eliminate radical opposition parties that demand the nationalization of white land.
Mr Ramaphosa announced a 32-member cabinet on Sunday, in which he retained twenty posts – more than 60% – for his African National Congress (ANC).
In contrast, he gave the centre-right DA six seats – less than 20% – despite the party demanding 30%. This was the result of a power-sharing deal the party struck with the ANC after the May 29 elections failed to produce a clear winner.
But to double the DA’s representation, Mr Ramaphosa also appointed six party officials as deputy ministers, including in the area of finance, where the ANC’s Enoch Godongwana – respected by both business and trade unions – has retained control.
The appointments came after tough negotiations with the prosecutor and an angry exchange of letters, in which Mr Ramaphosaa accused the party of trying to form a “parallel government” in violation of the constitution.
Mr Ramaphosa further diluted the DA’s influence in the new Cabinet by giving another six posts to smaller parties – from the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) to the Afrikaner nationalist Freedom Front Plus, making it the most ideologically diverse government in the history of South Africa.
In line with the tradition since the end of the racist apartheid system in 1994, the government also represents all racial groups, with a significant number of ministerial or deputy ministerial posts being given to members of the white, coloured – as mixed-race people are called in South Africa – and Indian communities.
This follows an election in which voters showed they “don’t care whether the cat is black or white, but whether it catches mice”, political analyst Thembisa Fakude told the BBC.
However, there is still resistance to Mr Ramaphosa’s decision to strike a coalition deal with the DA.
Led by John Steenhuisen, the party is often accused of trying to protect the economic privileges white people built up during apartheid – a charge it denies.
“Oil and water don’t mix,” a black security guard told the BBC.
Mr Ramaphosa presented his cabinet as a government of national unity and also gave a deputy minister post to the Muslim Al Jama-ah party. In doing so, he clearly indicated that he wants to continue supporting the Palestinians over Israel, despite opposition from the DA.
This perception was reinforced by the appointment of former Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Mr Lamola, a lawyer, led South Africa’s opening arguments in the country’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
He succeeds Naledi Pandor, who failed to be re-elected to parliament.
In addition to supporting the Palestinian cause, she also strengthened South Africa’s ties with the Brics club of nations, seen as a rival to the West, and with Russia.
Political analyst Prince Mashele told the BBC he doubted South Africa would remain a major international power as the ANC had lost its political dominance.
He argued that South Africa’s partners in the Brics – which include Brazil, Russia, India and China – “would realise that they are dealing with a weak partner”.
Ramaphosa was forced to appoint a national unity government after the ANC lost its majority in parliament for the first time.
He was only elected by parliament for a second term after the DA agreed to support him in exchange for seats at the top of the government.
The ANC received 40% in the May elections, while the DA came second with 22%.
The DA initially demanded 11 cabinet posts, plus the vice-presidency or the post of minister in the presidency for Mr Steenhuisen.
Ultimately, Mr Steenhuisen had to settle for the position of Minister of Agriculture.
But Mr Steenhuisen welcomed the deal, saying the DA “is proud to take on the challenge and take our place at the seat of national government for the first time”.
He said the prosecutor had “refused to accept watered-down compromises and…sometimes made tough deals to ensure that the portfolios we get are really substantial.”
Mr Steenhuisen’s position is likely to help allay the fears of the country’s white farmers, many of whom feel threatened by the demands of what are now the two largest opposition parties – former President Jacob Zuma’s MK party and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). for the nationalization of white-owned land.
However, the DA leader’s appointment was nullified by Ramaphosa’s surprise decision to hand over the new land reform ministry to the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), a former liberation movement that fought against white minority rule under the slogan “Africa for Africans”.
The PAC ran its election campaign under the slogan “Our Land, Our Heritage” and called for “decolonization and return of land to its original owners.”
The portfolio, which was previously combined with agriculture, will be held by PAC leader Mzwanele Nyhontso.
The PAC’s decision to serve in government for the first time ever will likely help Mr Ramaphosa deflect criticism from MK and the EFF that he has betrayed the liberation struggle by forming an alliance with the DA.
Mr Ramaphosa retained all economic portfolios for the ANC and dropped plans to transfer the Department of Trade and Industry to the DA, after strong opposition from his party, the black business lobby and the trade union movement.
They believed that handing the portfolio to the DA would undermine the ANC’s policy of black economic empowerment. The pro-free market DA opposes the policy, claiming it stifles investment, fuels corruption and only enriches the ANC’s business cronies.
In his regular column on the TimesLive news site, former Business Day editor Peter Bruce said the ANC’s top brass “couldn’t stomach the prospect of the DA anywhere near pulling the economic levers”, forcing Mr Steenhuisen to settle deal with agriculture in a “mediocre course of action”. ” for the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Political analyst Ongama Mtimke told the BBC that the ANC’s portfolios were important in tackling racial inequality, and that Mr Ramaphosa’s choices were intended to “demonstrate to comrades that we are still on track in terms of promoting the revolution”.
But Mr Fakude said the ANC and DA could probably reach sufficient agreement on economic policy.
The ANC had moved towards the center since coming to power three decades ago, although it could still disagree with the DA on issues such as privatisation, Mr Fakude said, adding: “Apart from that, I think they have a lot have things in common.”
Mr Ramaphosa gave the DA other key portfolios – including primary education in a country where literacy rates are low and language policy in schools is a highly emotive issue, public works and infrastructure, and home affairs.
The latter is seen as a political hot potato: as Fakude noted, it is “about borders and illegal African immigration into South Africa”.
The Public Works Department has been embroiled in several corruption scandals and the district attorney has promised a “zero tolerance” approach to tackling the problem.
Mr Ramaphosa donated two portfolios to the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). Although allied with the DA, the party has taken a neutral stance since the election, urging the two major parties to resolve their differences as they negotiate the composition of the Cabinet.
Mr Ramaphosa gave his leader Velinkosi Hlabisa the ministry of cooperative governance and traditional affairs. The IFP is close to the Zulu monarchy, with Mr Hlabisa’s appointment seen as another move by Mr Ramaphosa to neutralize the threat from Mr Zuma, who has called for greater powers for the largely ceremonial monarchs and chiefs of South Africa.
Mr Ramaphosa also handed over the all-important police ministry to an ANC leader from Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal, which has a long history of political violence.
Senzo Mchunu succeeds another ANC leader from KwaZulu-Natal, Bheki Cele, who was not re-elected.
Cele largely failed to curb violence in the province, which has seen more than 300 people killed in riots following the 2021 jailing of Mr Zuma for contempt of court after defying an order to cooperate with a commission of inquiry into corruption during his presidency.
KwaZulu-Natal is likely to face renewed unrest when Zuma appears in court next year on charges of corruption in an arms deal struck in the 1990s.
Mr Zuma denies any wrongdoing and considers the case to be politically motivated.
Having deep animosity towards Ramaphosa, who ousted him as president in 2018, the former president campaigned for parliament after breaking ranks with the ANC last December.
He led MK to third place in the elections and was instrumental in depriving the ANC of its parliamentary majority.
Now that the ANC and the DA are joined at the hip, MK will take on the role of official opposition and set the stage for a fierce confrontation with the ANC and its new coalition partners.
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