Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma's newly-announced Cabinet is balanced and experienced, the African National Congress said on Sunday.
These ministers would carry the nation's hope and resolve for radical socio-economic transformation, said ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe in a statement.
“It is our belief that the Cabinet, as announced, espouses the qualities necessary for the task ahead, guided by the National Development Plan, to decisively confront unemployment, poverty, and inequality in an equitable and accountable manner.”
The party also welcomed the “bold and decisive” step by Zuma to re-organise and re-focus government departments.
“We believe that these changes will lead to greater cost effectiveness and more effective monitoring of the work of government. The number of government ministries has not increased as a result.”
Mantashe congratulated the new Cabinet and reminded them that they dare not disappoint citizens who had entrusted them with the power.
“Now is the time to pool our collective energies to the task at hand to create a South Africa that is even better than it is today,” he said.
“We have full confidence in the ability of our public representatives to fulfil the commitment made by President Zuma that the fifth democratically elected administration will serve our people with humility, commitment, and dedication.”
Fellow tripartite alliance member, the SA Communist Party, also welcomed and congratulated the new appointees.
SACP spokesman Alex Mashilo said the fifth administration should drive polices for radical socio-economic transformation and development, as echoed by Zuma in his inaugural address on Saturday.
“This is incompatible with neoliberalism. The SACP therefore says, one of the critical conditions for our second radical phase of democratic transition to succeed is to do away with all the remnants of neoliberalism in our state.”
People Against Suffering, Oppression, and Poverty (Passop) dedicated their statement to praising the appointment of Malusi Gigaba to home affairs. Gigaba previously headed public enterprises and was a deputy home affairs minister before that.
“It is also clear that when he was involved in home affairs he left behind him a reputation as an extremely hard worker, who the departmental staff looked up to,” Passop community outreach officer Anthony Muteti said.
“He has, in our previous interactions, shown a deep sense of humility and understanding, both for South Africans and immigrants, who the department services.”
Passop said Gigaba's appointment showed that Zuma took home affairs seriously.
They hoped that Gigaba would manage migration correctly, document more people, weed out corruption, and deliver identity books to every citizen.
Sapa