Statement on of the appointment of the new Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers

7 March 2023

The South African Communist Party (SACP) notes the appointment of the new Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday evening, 6 March 2023.

We congratulate the ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile on his appointment as the new Deputy President, as well as the newly appointed Ministers and Deputy Ministers.

The SACP sincerely thanks former Deputy President David Mabuza, Ministers, and Deputy Ministers for the efforts they have dedicated in their previous capacities as Members of the Cabinet and Deputy Ministers in serving the people. 

“We urge all the newly appointed and continuing Members of the Cabinet and Deputy Ministers to pull out all the stops at all times to solve the economic and social problems affecting our people”, said the SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila.

President Ramaphosa followed a consultative process. In the end he applied his mind in terms of the powers and duties, including the prerogatives, vested in the President to appoint Ministers and Deputy Ministers as per the constitution. The SACP respects the constitutional powers and duties of the President within the framework of our multi-party, representative and participatory democracy.  

When President Ramaphosa announced the new appointments, many areas in both urban and rural areas were under load-shedding, depriving too many people of immediate access to the information.

At approximately 43 per cent, unemployment by the expanded survey definition that covers active and discouraged work-seekers affected nearly 12 million people in the last quarter of 2022. The super-majority of the unemployed are black people, mostly Africans in terms of national groups and the youth in terms of age.

At almost 47 per cent, the total unemployment rate of women is the highest in terms of gender. The landslide majority of the unemployed women are black, mostly Africans.

The class realities of poverty and inequality, which also reflects the persisting legacy of racial and gender oppression and discrimination, continue to be high.

Crime is ravaging many communities, causing sleepless nights, including through murders, femicide included. 

In particular, it is the working-class people in rural areas, especially in former Bantustans, as well as in the decaying urban centres, in townships, and in squatter camps, who are the most severely affected by the multiple crises of the exploitative capitalist system, its neoliberal policy failures and social ramifications.  To tackle these problems, South Africa needs a policy change, among others.

Issued by Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo, Central Committee and Political Bureau Member: Spokesperson and Secretary for Policy and Research, 7 March 2023