Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma’s new cabinet took centre stage in the second edition of Candid Business on multi-platform broadcaster CliffCentral.com this week.
The programme is broadcast on Mondays from 1 to 2 pm and is anchored by Business Report editor Ellis Mnyandu, who is the show’s executive producer.
This week Mnyandu debated the topic of Zuma’s new cabinet with guests and Arnie Hicks, his co-host and associate producer.
Mnyandu said Zuma had presided over an economy that had not performed to its potential in his first term.
“Economic growth is what the new economic cluster ministers must find a solution to. Especially fixing the chaos in mining and fixing Eskom. They also need to get business to invest.”
He questioned whether new Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi was the right person for the job.
Leadership expert Adriaan Groenewald said ministers would argue they were there to give strategic direction and did not need to be experts.
For instance, Groenewald said, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan was shifted to minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs because he was a “detail guy” and “a doer – a go-getter”.
Mnyandu questioned how effective new Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa would be.
“In effect Jeff Radebe, who has been moved into the role of minister in the Presidency, will be de facto deputy.”
Groenewald said that the deputy president had as much power as the president gave him. “It can be ceremonial but it can be more. In essence not a lot of influence and power. Not a very powerful position.”
Mnyandu questioned whether Zuma had taken a defensive posture with the appointment of his cabinet.
In response, Groenewald said the appointments showed Zuma was aware that local government needed to be sorted out and delivery must happen at this level.
Mnyandu noted that new Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene was the first black African to hold the position.
Regarding the unchanged repo rate, it was agreed that it was good news for debt- burdened consumers.
Hicks said the deadlock in the platinum sector showed the need for political intervention.
“There has to be a resolution. Government needs to call both parties to the table in the interest of the economy.”
Groenewald said “incredible leadership” was required to tackle the mining challenge.