JOHANNESBURG - While the appointment and shuffling of ministers is the prerogative of the President, the Democratic Alliance has come forward and unveiled a major shake-up in its Government of National Unity team.
Political analysts believe this move is less about the shifts within the blue party but more about proving that there is some level of accountability.
The changes that DA leader, Geordon Hill Lewis, proposed to President Cyril Ramaphosa see ministers and deputies being reassigned following a performance review.
READ | DA reshuffles ministerial team, Steenhuisen replaced as Agriculture Minister
Political analyst Jan-Jan Joubert said the move allows for the DA to differentiate itself from the ANC and demonstrate that it still has control over the ministers it puts forward for government positions.
“Geordin Hill Lewis needed to show that he was not reacting to the President but that the President was, to some degree, reacting to him.”
According to Joubert, any minister serves at the pleasure of the President, but in the end, the DA has a deal with the ANC that they will fill these positions.
“So this is a proactive step by the new DA leader,” he said.
Hill-Lewis said the new team will strengthen the DA’s role in government and better represent the 3.5 million voters from the 2024 elections.
Joubert believes competence was a major factor behind the shift, as he points to the Agriculture role.
“Many people who are not involved in agriculture, and in this case specifically commercial agriculture, completely underestimate what it takes to be a successful commercial farmer in South Africa.
“And I think to have appointed someone with absolutely no knowledge or background in agriculture as Minister of Agriculture was a disaster waiting to happen in the way that indeed it did,” he added.
Joubert said moving Willie Aucamp to the Minister of Agriculture was a good move, as he comes with farming experience.
READ | High Court blocks Agriculture minister's foot-and-mouth vaccine prohibition
“He is competent, and he will be able to rebuild. I think the trust which the DA has lost, both with Afrikaner voters, especially of a more conservative ilk, and with the farming community, especially the commercial farming community. This is important, especially with the municipal elections coming up,” he explained.
Agreeing with this was political analyst Dirk Kotze, who believes that the DA is more about strengthening influence in key portfolios.
“This shift is that the DA wants to build more capacity at the level of deputy ministers, especially in the economic cluster. The ANC still dominates at the level of ministers, still dominates the economy, so it's the DA's opportunity at the level of the deputy ministers. And I think in that respect, it will be, they are looking for who the people are that will ultimately make the most impact.”
Kortze does not view Steenhusien's move as a demotion but deems it an important move that can have a positive economic impact.
“If you combine his new role with that of the Deputy Minister of Finance, who is also from the DA, and is actually the first Chairperson of the Federal Council, as well as Dean McPherson as the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure it becomes quite a powerful combination that can make an impact on economic development, on economic policy, and the direction in which the government of national unity ultimately will go, even if it's not at the level of ministers,” he explained.