Radical South African Government shake-up: DA versus ANC

DA leader Mmusi Maimane recently promoted the party’s plan to create a streamlined and service delivery-orientated national government made up of 15 cabinet ministries.

The DA proposed a national government which will cut the current 35 ministries under President Jacob Zuma by more than half.

Maimane said the DA has been working on a plan to streamline government to make it less costly and more efficient.

“If elected to national government, we would save R4.7 billion per year simply by reorganising the executive into a streamlined, delivery-oriented Cabinet of 15 Ministries,” he said.

Maimane said South Africa has one of the largest cabinets in the world. “Not only do we have a President, a Deputy President, and 35 Ministers, we also have 37 Deputy Ministers. That’s an executive of 74 people,” said Maimane.

No more Communications, and Telecommunications and Postal Services

Maimane said that some ministries like Finance, Police, Home Affairs, and Defence would remain unchanged.

Others would be reassembled from existing ministries to ensure a streamlined focus.

Two of the departments in the tech space – Communications, and Telecommunications and Postal Services – will fall away.

How the ANC and DA cabinets compare

The infographic below shows how the proposed DA cabinet compares with the current ANC cabinet under President Zuma.

The DA was asked who will serve as ministers if it came into power, but the party did not provide feedback. MyBroadband used the current DA shadow ministers for guidance.

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