South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announces major Cabinet changes

On Thursday night, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made big changes to his cabinet, including the job of finance minister. He stated that the country is facing a number of issues, including speeding up the vaccination programme, preserving peace and stability in the aftermath of the recent outbreak of violence and damage, and rebuilding the economy. During a national speech, he said, "I am therefore making changes to the national executive to improve the capacity of the government to effectively undertake these tasks."

Enoch Godongwana named as new finance minister

After previous minister Tito Mboweni requested that he be excused from his duties, Ramaphosa named Enoch Godongwana as the new finance minister who is also the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) economic transformation panel. He has previously worked in government as deputy minister of public enterprises and deputy minister of economic development and is a powerful figure in the ANC and the government's economic strategy. Thandi Modise, the former Speaker of the National Assembly, has been named the new Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, succeeding Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

Zweli Mkhize resigned and was replaced by Joe Phaahla

Zweli Mkhize, the suspended Health Minister who was implicated in a corruption controversy, resigned and was replaced by Joe Phaahla, his former deputy minister. According to Ramaphosa, Mkhize had asked to step down in order to restore certainty and stability to this crucial ministry and had been replaced by Joe Phaahla, who had previously served as deputy health minister. Early in June, Mkhize, 65, was placed on special leave, following the launch of an investigation into a 150 million South African rand health ministry communications contract. Mkhize, who served as health minister from 2018, has denied any involvement. His case was one of more than 4,000 coronavirus-related contracts under investigation by the government's Special Investigation Unit for potential fraud.

Another noteworthy shift was the elimination of the Ministry of State Security in favour of putting political control of the State Security Agency in the hands of the President. Ramaphosa also stated, "this is to ensure that the country's domestic and foreign intelligence services more effectively enable the President to exercise his responsibility to safeguard the security and integrity of the nation."

(With Inputs from ANI)