Ramaphosa Is Working to Make SA Work Efficiently, Say Political Analysts, Mondli Gungubele to Head SSA
- Political analysts have shared their opinions on announcements made by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his State of the Nation Address
- They believe that Ramaphosa's centralisation efforts show that he is trying to create an efficient South African government
- These efforts include appointing Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele to head the State Security Agency
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JOHANNESBURG - During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 10 February, President Cyril Ramaphosa made several announcements that pointed to efforts to centralise power within the government.
Dr Susan Booysen, a political analyst, said that these announcements prove that the president is trying to foster a government that is effective and efficient. In this regard, Dr Booysen believes Ramphosa is taking his lead from previous presidents.
"We can argue that we have often not seen the effect, but these are serious efforts by presidents, and including now President Cyril Ramaphosa, to get faster action, because the South African state is notoriously weak and slow," Dr Booysen said.
Source: Getty Images
Ways that Ramaphosa is trying to centralise power
According to SABC News, one of the ways that Ramaphosa is trying to centralise power is his decision to appoint Sipho Nkosi, the former CEO of Exxaro, to head the "red tape team." This task force will work to find ways to make registering new businesses easier, thereby boosting the economy.
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Another example of Ramaphosa's efforts is his decision to include heading the State Security Agency (SSA) to the Minister in the Presidency's portfolio. Therefore Mondli Gungubele is now responsible for directing the SSA.
This mandate shift is in line with Section 209(2) of the Constitution, which provides for the President to direct and control the SSA or to appoint a Cabinet minister to fulfil this role.
Reactions to political analysts' take on Ramaphosa's decisions
@Mkhize_vela believes:
"The prof is now old, some of her marbles are no longer functional."
@gmalau32 shared:
"We condemned Mbeki years ago when he did the same thing. Why are we allowing Ramaphosa to do this? It will backfire badly. The parallel states are very dangerous."
@Malavi_Mapimele remarked:
"This is absolutely wrong."
@KennyTM78 said:
"Let's hope she'll also make peace with that when it's done by DD or Juju. We can allow a situation where the president has a shadow cabinet which runs the show, these people are only accountable to him and not parliament."
DA and EFF believe Ramaphosa has no trust in ANC ministers as he appoints outside experts to lead teams
In earlier news about Ramaphosa, Briefly News reported that John Steenhuisen, the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), and Julius Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), say that they feel President Cyril Ramaphosa does not have faith in his ANC ministers.
These remarks follow an announcement made by Ramaphosa during his State of the Nation Address (SONA), where he said that people outside the ANC would head two new task teams.
The one team is the "red tape team", which will be headed by Sipho Nkosi, the former CEO of Exxaro. The team's goal is to make it easier to register and start businesses.
Source: Briefly News
