May 18, 2024
Jacob Zuma reshuffles cabinet
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma
SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma named a close ally as energy minister and fired the leader of the communist party, which has criticized his leadership, in a cabinet reshuffle just two months before he is due to step down as leader of the ruling African National Congress.
Zuma named David Mahlobo as energy minister, and appointed ANC lawmaker Bongani Bongo as minister of state security, a post previously held by Mahlobo, the Presidency said in a statement on Tuesday. Mmamoloko Kubayi, who previously held the energy portfolio, will replace Ayanda Dlodlo as head of the communications ministry. Dlodlo moves to home affairs.
The changes at the energy ministry may be geared toward reviving plans, which are backed by Zuma, to build new nuclear power plants, according to Darias Jonker, an Africa analyst at risk advisory firm Eurasia Group. Opposition parties argue that South Africa can’t afford the plants and studies commissioned by the government show no immediate need for them.
“Mahlobo is a key ally of Zuma,” Jonker said by phone. “It’s likely that Kubayi wasn’t being an aggressive enough supporter of the nuclear process.”
The rand weakened as much as 0.6 percent against the dollar, and was trading 0.5 percent lower at 13.386 as of 11:52 a.m. in Johannesburg. Yields on benchmark local bonds due in December 2026 jumped 7 basis points to 8.71 percent.
Zuma fired Blade Nzimande, the secretary-general of the South African Communist Party, as his higher education minister. While the SACP is in a political alliance with the ANC, the party has called for Zuma to step down as president and wants Cyril Ramaphosa to lead the party after the December election. Zuma is backing Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former head of the African Union Commission and his ex-wife, for the position.
Zuma didn’t appoint Dlamini-Zuma to his cabinet — a move that was widely anticipated after her appointment as a lawmaker last month. Zuma didn’t provide reasons for the changes in his statement and his spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga didn’t answer a call to his mobile phone.
