South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday retained Tito Mboweni as finance minister in a new, leaner cabinet, following on from a pre-election pledge to reform and revive an ailing economy and attract foreign investors.
Mboweni, a former central bank governor who is well respected by investors has spoken out about trimming government spending and selling some state companies that are acting as a drain on public finances. Retaining Mboweni is seen as a way for Ramaphosa to woo investors and please the markets.
And in a history-making move, Ramaphosa also announced that women will make up half of his cabinet. It is the first time in South Africa’s history that 50 percent of the cabinet will be women. One of those women is from the opposition.
Good Party candidate, Patricia de Lille will serve as minister of infrastructure development.
Ramaphosa, who was sworn in as South Africa’s president on Saturday for his first full five-year term, trimmed the cabinet from 36 ministers to 28.
That will serve as an early barometer of his ability to push through change more efficiently, having struggled to implement tough reforms since he succeeded scandal-plagued Jacob Zuma last year.
The leaner cabinet was meant to reduce government spending, Ramaphosa said.
In addition to Mboweni, Ramaphosa also brought back Pravin Gordhan as public enterprises minister. The ministry oversees state-owned companies including Eskom. The management of Eskom’s restructuring is key to reviving the economy after power cuts in the past year undermined broader efforts to kick-start growth.
The president also appointed Gwedwe Mantashe as mining and energy minister after combining the two ministries. Mantashe previously headed the mining ministry. Naledi Pandor, previously higher education minister, was appointed as foreign affairs minister.
