Ramaphosa promises effective government with new cabinet

President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed that the incoming government will be effective and will have people with experience, skills and and capabilities to deliver on its mandate.

Ramaphosa said this during the announcement of his much-anticipated new national executive late on Sunday night. This follows weeks of negotiations among the 11 political parties in the government of national unity (GNU). 

Ramaphosa's cabinet included new faces such PA's Gayton McKenzie who will be heading the department of Arts and Culture, DA leader John Steenhuisen is the new minister of Agriculture while IFP's Velenkosini Hlabisa will be the minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

"It is important that we deploy into positions of responsibility people who are committed, capable and hard-working, and who have integrity," he said.

"We have had to ensure that all the parties are able to participate meaningfully in the national executive and that the diversity of the views of South Africans is properly reflected."

Ramaphosa said a total of eleven parties have agreed to work together.

"All the parties have made a commitment to respect the constitution and to promote a accountable and transparent governance, evidence-based policy and decision-making, the professionalisation of the public service, integrity and good governance," he said.

He said the government would prioritise rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and tackling poverty and inequality. He also lauded the establishment of the GNU as "unprecedented". 

"We have had to consider how to form the new government in a manner that advances the national interest, that gives due consideration to the outcome of the election and that makes use of the respective capabilities within each of the parties. We have had to consider not only the immediate needs of the country," he said.

Ramaphosa said through discussions they had been able to build consensus on the tasks of government and had shown that there were no problems that were too difficult or too intractable that they could not be solved through dialogue.

He added: "We have sought to ensure that the national executive is representative of the people of South Africa, giving due consideration to gender, youth, demographics and regional distribution. We want South Africans to see themselves reflected not only in the composition of government, but also in its policies and programmes.

He said given the challenges that the country faces today and considering the electoral mandate his government must implement, he decided to make certain changes to the national government portfolios.

"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."