By Naadiya Adams

South Africa’s recent unrest has sent the country’s governing party into tumult and it is reflective in the cabinet’s latest reshuffle. It’s a play for power rather than a squad set to take on the current economic challenges say analysts. The Ministries of Defence, Health and Finance were some of the most notable changes.

In an interview with Radio Islam, North West Professor Andre Duvenhage says this could very well be the worst cabinet to come out of the ANC since 1994.

“This is not a cabinet of merit, this is a very mediocre cabinet, and this is not the kind of cabinet I would like to have when my country has the kind of challenges they are facing at the moment, politically, economically and socially,” says Duvenhage.

Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, was slated to be axed according to many analysts, but he managed to survive the reshuffle in spite of having been under fire recently following the lack of police presence and action during the violent looting that ripped Kwa-Zulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng last month. Duvenhage believes its due to the support that Cele has in the province.

“What is interesting about Bheki Cele, he has a political support base which is in a way independent of Jacob Zuma and also in opposition to that of Jacob Zuma and I think the President cannot lose the support from KZN by taking away Bheki Cele. If it was a case on merit, I think Mr Bheki Cele would have failed that test with a distinction,” explained Duvenhage.

Another notable move by President Ramaphosa, was the re-allocation of National Assemble Speaker Thandi Modise to Minister of Defence while Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who President Cyril Ramaphosa sacked as defence and military veterans minister last week, is the ANC’s candidate to become the new speaker of the National Assembly.

“What I know about Thandi Modise is she played a very critical role as speaker to keep the ANC caucus behind Cyril Ramaphosa in Parliament and he needs a very strong loyalist to control Parliament. I’m not sure Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is strong enough to deal with this,” says Duvenhage.

Within her portfolio, Mapisa-Nqakula’s capability as Defence Minister was lacking says Duvenhage but he also believes she may have been a political risk, however, her role in the recent insurrection is not known.

When the reshuffling of Ministers was announced, the confidence in South Africa’s economy plunged with the rand value showing a substantial drop – evidence that Ramaphosa may not have restored faith in his government’s abilities post the unrest seen in July.

Listen to the full interview here: