Ramaphosa’s ‘cowardly’ cabinet reshuffle blasted

President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing criticism from political parties who said his decision to appoint Justice Minister Thembi Simelane – as the new Human Settlements Minister was “short-sighted and disrespectful” to citizens.

In a surprise move on Tuesday, Ramaphosa reshuffled his Government of National Unity (GNU) cabinet making four changes to the executive.

The executive changes are effective immediately, according to the Presidency’s announcement, which included no other specifics.

Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi will succeed Simelane as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development in a portfolio reorganisation.

Political parties have responded to Ramaphosa’s move and they are not happy.

Many demanded that Simelane be removed from her position because of her alleged involvement in the Venda Building Society (VBS) mutual bank money looting scandal.

While Ramaphosa “finally” addressed the untenable conflict of interest of having a Justice Minister accused of corruption, Democratic Alliance MP advocate Glynnis Breytenbach said the decision to redeploy Simelane elsewhere did not address the fact that she is accused of money laundering.

“Simelane does not belong in the Cabinet, end of story… Human Settlements is a vital department for providing housing to South Africans. It must be led by a credible individual.

“The indecisiveness of the President, who has explicitly committed to fighting corruption is especially shocking and quite blatantly insincere,” Breytenbach said.

ActionSA MP Athol Trollip said Ramaphosa’s “cowardly” cabinet reshuffle confirmed that Simelane’s role as Justice Minister was untenable.

“Unsurprisingly, President Ramaphosa has once again shown South Africans that he lacks both the appetite and fortitude to break the entrenched culture of unaccountability that continues to plague our country.

“This cowardly move by the President also highlights the fact that his own Phala Phala demons continue to hamstring his actions when it comes to dealing with corruption in his cabinet,” Trollip said.

Simelane is accused of allegedly receiving a “loan” of R575, 600 from Gundo Wealth Solutions, a company directly linked to the unlawful investments of municipal funds into the now-defunct VBS bank.

This loan was received during her tenure as the Mayor of Polokwane.

She has denined any wrong doing and recently told Parliament that she did not receive any funds from the bank.