The home affairs portfolio will receive an injection of youth through the Government of National Unity (GNU).

The portfolio has been handed to the Democratic Alliance (DA), with 35-year-old Zimbabwean Leon Schreiber named as the new home affairs minister by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Schreiber replaces Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, while Deputy Minister Njabulo Nzuza remains in his position to ensure continuity.

Home affairs via Stellenbosch and Princeton

Schreiber is a former MEC for Public Service and Administration and has been a senior strategic advisor to John Steenhuisen since April 2023.

He has a Master’s degree in political science from Stellenbosch University. He earned his PhD in Germany before holding a research position at Princeton University.

A political academic, he is also the author of a 2018 book where he predicted the playing out of coalition politics in South Africa.

While with the DA during the sixth administration, Schreiber had a significant hand in the inquiry to remove Busisiwe Mkhwebane as public protector, as well as the DA’s court battles to obtain the ANC’s cadre deployment records.

Ports of entry and certificates

Among the key roles of the Department of Home Affairs is the issuing of birth, death, marriage and death certificates, as well as controlling South Africa’s borders and ports.

The DA has eyed portfolios with economic benefits and the nation’s ports of entry leave much room for improvement.

Increasing the efficiency of South Africa’s ports could be a big feather in the DA’s cap if it is able to register meaningful successes.

Steenhuisen outlined the DA’s vision for the GNU in a post-announcement statement.

“It will be the single most important task for this cabinet in the coming five-year term to make a meaningful difference in the lives of all South Africans, and to tap into South Africa’s limitless potential as one of the brightest and most resilient democracies in the world,” he said.

MARCHING ORDERS

Ramaphosa announces Cabinet with ministers from ANC, DA, IFP, PA, PAC and FF+

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been unable to reduce his executive, but has instead increased the number of positions to accommodate members of the GNU.

In a televised address on Sunday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Cabinet had been largely restructured to accommodate members of the government of national unity (GNU).

“In the course of the sixth democratic administration, we indicated our intention to reduce the number of portfolios in the national executive. However, due to the need to ensure that the national executive is inclusive of all the parties to the government of national unity, this has not been possible.

“In some instances, we have considered it necessary to separate certain portfolios to ensure that there is sufficient focus on key issues,” said the President.

Before the elections, Ramaphosa’s Cabinet included 30 ministers. It has now grown to 32.

The ministries of electricity and energy have been merged and will be led by Kgosientso Ramokgopa, while there will be a separate ministry of mineral and petroleum resources of which Gwede Mantashe is the minister.

The ministry of agriculture has been separated from the ministry of land reform and rural development. The ministry of higher education no longer includes the science, technology and innovation portfolios.

The ministry of justice and constitutional development is no longer merged with the ministry of correctional services and the ministry of public enterprises has been scrapped.

The coordination of the relevant public enterprises will be located in the Presidency during the process of implementing a new shareholder model.

Ramaphosa has decided to appoint DA leader John Steenhuisen as minister of agriculture in his new executive. This was a position previously occupied by the newly appointed Speaker of the National Assembly Thoko Didiza.

Angie Motshekga is no longer the basic education minister as this role has now been given to the DA’s Siviwe Gwarube. Motshekga has held this portfolio since 2009 which means she is bowing out after 15 years, but is now the minister of defence.

DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi has been appointed minister of communications, a position previously occupied by Mondli Gungubele, who is now the deputy minister in the same department.

The Patriotic Alliance had requested to take over the home affairs ministry, previously held by Aaron Motsoaledi. It was instead given to the DA’s Leon Schreiber while the environment ministry will be led by the DA’s Dion Goerge.

Six DA deputy ministers have been appointed, with Ashor Sarupen having scored the position of deputy finance minister which will see him work alongside Enoch Godongwana who has retained his position as the head of the National Treasury. Sarupen will share the position with David Masondo who was serving in the position in the sixth administration.

DA deputies also include the deputy minister of water and sanitation, Sello Seitlholo. Mimi Gondwe is the deputy in the higher education department while Sam Graham will be the deputy in the reconfigured energy and electricity department.

DA Mpumalanga bigwig Jane Sithole is the new deputy minister of small business, while the deputy minister of trade and industry is now Andrew Whitfield.

PA leader Gayton Mckenzie has been appointed minister of sport, arts and culture and UDM leader Bantu Holomisa is the deputy minister of defence and military veterans alongside Richard Mkhungo.

Al Jama-ah leader Ganief  Hendricks is deputy minister of social development and Pieter Groenewald of the Freedom Front Plus is minister of correctional services.

Notably, Senzo Mchunu has replaced Bheki Cele as the police minister. Cele has not been redeployed to another ministry.

Protracted ANC-DA talks

The announcement comes after lengthy wrangling between the largest two parties. Leaked letters were making the rounds, showing the turmoil between the parties over the GNU negotiations.

Initially, the DA requested that it have 12 members in the national executive. This demand was widely criticised, with the ANC alliance’s partner the SA Communist Party slamming the DA. The ANC then offered the DA six ministerial positions and six deputy minister positions, which the party accepted.

However, another problem emerged when the DA was adamant about taking over the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC). The ANC backtracked on its offer to appoint a DA member as DTIC minister, angering the DA and exacerbating difficult relations between the two parties.

This became resolved over time as both parties had to compromise to reach a resolution which has seen Whitfield take the deputy position in the department.

Ramaphosa mentioned concerns about the time it had taken to form a GNU, saying that there was nothing untoward about the process followed by member parties.

“It is true that some South Africans have expressed concern about the length of time it has taken to form a government.

“As the discussions have unfolded, they have been worried about the effect of a protracted process on confidence and stability. At the same time, many people have pointed to the experiences of other countries that have a far longer history of democracy, where the formation of multiparty governments have sometimes taken several months,” he said on Sunday evening.

The ANC failed to achieve an outright majority in the 2024 national and provincial elections which led to its decision to form the GNU.

The IFP was the first party to back the proposal followed by the DA, PA, UDM, Good, Rise Mzansi, PAC, Freedom Front Plus, Al Jama-ah and United African Transformation.

The UDM, Al Jama-ah and PAC were, however, aligned with the Progressive Caucus which consists of opposition parties, spearheaded by the EFF. The African Transformation Movement forms part of the caucus while the MK party has pledged its support for the pact.

EFF speaks out against DA

The EFF held bilateral talks in Johannesburg on Friday, 28 June 2024 about the constitution of South Africa’s 7th democratic administration. The red berets said they would be willing to join the GNU on condition that the DA and Freedom Front Plus were not included.

However, the ANC had been working on striking a deal with the DA which could extend to local government level and see the EFF left out in the cold in several municipalities.

The EFF accuses these parties of pushing an “imperialist, counter-revolutionary, white supremacist agenda demonstrated by their rejection of progressive internationalism…”

The party also then mentioned that the parties had joined the GNU only to derail the transformation agenda.

“The participation of the DA and FF Plus in the GNU only seeks to neutralise the possibility of economic transformation that an EFF and ANC coalition present, such as the creation of a state bank, nationalisation of the South African Reserve Bank, insourcing of workers, free education, healthcare, housing, water and sanitation,” said the EFF.

Meanwhile, Build One South Africa (Bosa) has called for a National Convention – comprising all 18 Parliamentary parties. This would see a process where all parties would agree on the composition of a new values-based and delivery-based national government.

The party also made a last-minute decision with the ANC to determine a clearer understanding on if and how Bosa would participate in any governing arrangement.

“We have committed to be constructive in all engagements and have agreed that once a plan of action is determined we can support the government on an issue by issue basis.

“Again, we made it abundantly clear that we cannot commit to or reject any governing agreement without knowing or agreeing to the actual agenda of said government,”  the statement reads.

Zimbabwean Leon Schreiber named as the new home affairs minister