Here is South Africa’s new cabinet

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced South Africa’s new national executive during a televised address on 30 Jule 2024.

This announcement followed the President’s election by the National Assembly on Friday, 14 June 2024, and Ramaphosa’s inauguration on Wednesday, 19 June 2024.

The new cabinet is South Africa’s seventh Democratic Administration as a Government of National Unity comprising diverse political parties.

The new cabinet followed weeks of negotiations between the ANC and DA, the country’s two largest political parties.

The ANC lost its outright majority in the 2024 national elections. It gained 40% of the vote, ending three decades of dominance.

The DA received 22%, followed by Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party on 14.6%, and Julius Malema’s EFF on 9.5%.

Initial discussions focussed on a coalition between the ANC and DA. However, strong resistance from the ANC’s alliance partners changed the situation.

The ANC then opted for a Government of National Unity (GNU), which includes cooperation between the executive and legislature.

“At this historic juncture, we must act to ensure stability and peace, tackling the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality,” the ANC said.

It listed the foundational principles of the new Government of National Unity to which all parties that wanted to be part of it must commit.

Many parties joined the ANC’s GNU, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), Patriotic Alliance (PA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and Vryheidsfront Plus (FF+).

Other GNU partners include GOOD, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), the United Democratic Movement (UDM), Rise Mzansi, UAT, and Al Jama-ah.

There were two notable parties which did not join the new government of national unity – MK and the EFF.

The EFF recently said it would only join the GNU if the DA and the Freedom Front Plus were excluded from the union.

The MK Party has refused to work with the current leadership of the ANC, including newly elected president Cyril Ramaphosa.

MK leader Jacob Zuma described the GNU as “nonsense”, saying it is a “white-led unholy alliance between the DA and the ANC of President Cyril Ramaphosa”.

“It is sponsored by big business, and it’s for the benefit of the markets and not the people,” Zuma said.

Cyril Ramaphosa’s new cabinet

President Ramaphosa’s new cabinet announcement came after an extended negotiation period with fights over prominent cabinet positions.

At some points during the negotiations, discussions broke down, centring around the Minister of Trade and Industry position.

The ANC reportedly withdrew this offer after initially agreeing to it. Ramaphosa wanted to switch that portfolio to Tourism.

The DA did not back down, threatening to leave the Government of National Unity unless the original offer was reinstated.

However, on Friday, news emerged that Ramaphosa and Steenhuisen were nearing an agreement over positions in the executive.

On Saturday evening, news emerged that the deadlock had been broken and that the two main parties had reached an agreement.

On Sunday afternoon, the Presidency announced that Ramaphosa would announce a new national executive on 30 June 2024.

The table below shows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s new cabinet.