Outa urges Ramaphosa to dump Ministers Mantashe, Nzimande, Chikunga

Ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s much anticipated new Cabinet appointments, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse is urging him not to reappoint Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe, Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande and Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga. Outa also suggests that Ramaphosa consider reducing the size of the new Cabinet. Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage cited systemic inefficiencies, mismanagement, irregularities in procurement processes and corruption, which he said had been observed in all three departments. “Reappointing these Ministers would perpetuate poor performance, with more negative consequences for the country, further impacting service delivery to the people,” he said. Duvenage said that it believed meaningful change for the better would come if Ramaphosa appointed “the right people” to Cabinet, noting that under Mantashe, the mining cadastre system had collapsed, impacting negatively on transparency and investment in South Africa’s mining sector. “In addition, the lack of transparency when it comes to diesel procurement for Eskom’s peak power usage and other dubious activities on his watch, coupled with his alleged involvement in State capture transactions as reported by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, make Mantashe unfit for any Cabinet role,” he said. In discussing Nzimande’s alleged shortcomings, Duvenage pointed to procurement irregularities in the sectoral education and training authorities, universities, technical and vocational education and training colleges, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. Meanwhile, he highlighted that Chikunga’s short tenure as the Minister of Transport and her previous role as deputy minister has been disappointing, pointing to challenges with road safety, corruption in driver’s licence testing and inefficiencies in the Natis vehicle registry system.