ActionSA has strongly condemned President Cyril Ramaphosa's latest Cabinet reshuffle, particularly criticising the return of former Minister Dina Pule to the Social Development portfolio and the ongoing retention of ANC Ministers implicated in corruption and State capture scandals.

Ramaphosa announced a significant restructuring of the DA’s Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial deployments in the Government of National Unity (GNU), acting on a formal request from party leader Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Former DA leader John Steenhuisen was removed from his position as Agriculture Minister and demoted to Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister, while Willie Aucamp is appointed as the new Agriculture Minister.

In addition to the DA members' deployments, Ramaphosa appointed Pule as Social Development Minister.

ActionSA Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip criticised the Cabinet reshuffle, characterising it as a “failure”.

The party slammed Pule’s appointment as the ANC "scraping the bottom of the barrel". Pule previously left Cabinet in 2013 following an Ethics Committee finding that she breached the Executive Ethics Code.

ActionSA also argued that rather than being demoted to a Deputy Minister position, Steenhuisen should have been dismissed following his handling of Foot-and-Mouth Disease.

Trollip described Aucamp’s promotion as “uninspiring”, given questions raised about his tenure dealing with captive lion breeding and management issues at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.

ActionSA noted that the reshuffle failed to address long-standing controversies within the ANC's ranks.

The party pointed out that Ministers such as Thembi Simelane, linked to the VBS scandal, and Gwede Mantashe, who is criticised in the Zondo Commission report, continue to hold Cabinet positions. ActionSA said this indicates that the GNU “acts as a vehicle for political patronage rather than good governance”.

In response to what they view as a bloated and unaccountable executive, which currently comprises 75 Ministers and Deputy Ministers, ActionSA has introduced its Cabinet Reform Package.

This includes the Enhanced Cut Cabinet Perks Bill and the 23rd Constitutional Amendment Bill. These legislative changes seek to abolish Deputy Minister posts, require mandatory lifestyle audits, and save taxpayers at least R1.5-billion annually.

CIVIL SOCIETY BACKLASH

Civil society group Corruption Watch (CW) echoed the political outrage at Pule's appointment, saying it destroys public confidence.

The Department of Social Development manages one of the State's largest budgets, administering grants to roughly 28-million vulnerable South Africans.

CW executive director Lebo Ramafoko called the appointment a "slap in the face" for accountable governance, adding that it exposes the President's anti-corruption rhetoric as mere words.

Ramafoko criticised the trend of using the critical portfolio as a "dumping place" for compromised leaders.

The organisation has demanded that Ramaphosa publicly provide his rationale.

It has also called on Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Social Development to enforce "hyper-vigilant oversight", promising to demand Pule's immediate removal if any new financial or ethical impropriety surfaces.