South Africa’s massive national executive

South Africa’s recent Parliamentary vote for the value-added tax (VAT) increase has reignited a long-standing debate: why does the country need one of the largest national executives in the world?

With 77 members, South Africa’s executive far exceeds those of economic giants like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

Critics argue that instead of addressing wasteful spending and mismanagement, the government is raising taxes to sustain an oversized executive.

Despite President Cyril Ramaphosa’s earlier pledge to trim down the executive, the cabinet has grown to include 32 ministers and 43 deputy ministers under his and Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s leadership.

This is within a public sector already carrying the third-highest wage bill as a percentage of GDP globally.

In 2019, the Department of Public Service and Administration submitted a report to the President on the state’s macro-reorganisation and called for reducing the cabinet – which Ramaphosa said he planned to do.

However, the opposite occurred.

The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) has called for a significant reduction in the number of ministers in South Africa’s government and a fundamental overhaul of the Presidency.

“The state’s capacity to develop policies and deliver public services and programmes has been undermined by systemic corruption, too many compromised party loyalists, inadequate skills at critical levels, and a lack of accountability for poor performance and wrongdoing,” said CDE executive director Ann Bernstein.

“At the same time, government has taken on more responsibilities, creating new government departments and public entities.”

“Adding extra layers of bureaucracy and parallel management structures has made it harder to take decisions and coordinate key actors to deliver on outcomes.”

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South Africa

South Africa, with a population of around 63.2 million and a $418.05 billion GDP (nominal, 2025 est.), has a Cabinet consisting of 34 members.

This includes the President, Deputy and 32 ministers.

The portfolios of the ministers are:

1. Electricity and Energy
2. Presidency: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
3. Minister in the Presidency
4. Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
5. Agriculture
6. Land Reform and Rural Development
7. Basic Education
8. Communications and Digital Technologies
9. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
10. Defence and Military Veterans
11. Employment and Labour
12. Forestry, Fisheries and Environment
13. Finance
14. Health
15. Science and Technology and Innovation
16. Higher Education
17. Home Affairs
18. Human Settlements
19. International Relations and Cooperation
20. Justice and Constitutional Development
21. Correctional Services
22. Mineral and Petroleum Resources
23. Police
24. Public Service and Administration
25. Public Works and Infrastructure
26. Small Business Development
27. Social Development
28. Sports, Arts and Culture
29. Tourism
30. Trade, Industry and Competition
31. Transport
32. Water and Sanitation

These 32 ministers are supported by 43 deputy ministers.

Wits Business School senior lecturer Paul Kaseke previously wrote that “nobody would really mind how large the cabinet is if there were no financial implications attached”.

However, these ministerial and deputy positions do not come cheap to the taxpayer. Their salaries alone – excluding perks – cost the taxpayer around R181.33 million in the past year.

Position	Number of positions	2024/25 annual salary (excluding perks) per position	Total
Minister	32	R2,689,937	R86,077,984
Deputy Minister	43	R2,215,220	R95,254,460
Total	75		R181,332,444

Additionally, calculations from BusinessTech showed that taxpayers are coughing up at least R467.33 million on the salaries of support staff of the country’s 75 Ministers and Deputies per year.

This is up by around R80.33 million from the R387 million estimation for the previous administration.

In addition, according to a Parliamentary Q&A, South African taxpayers spent over R553 million annually on VIP protection, international travel, vehicles, and alternative utilities for the previous administration’s 30 Ministers and 34 Deputy Ministers.

This figure is expected to rise sharply, as Ramaphosa has since added 11 more positions

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United States of America

The United States of America, with a population of around 340 million, has 15 ministries – less than half the number of South Africa’s 32.

Meanwhile, the United States’ nominal GDP is the largest in the world – sitting at $30.34 trillion in 2025.

Their ministers (called Secretaries) are made up of:

1. State
2. Treasury
3. Defence
4. Attorney General
5. Interior
6. Agriculture
7. Commerce
8. Labour
9. Health and Human Services
10. Housing and Urban Development
11. Transportation
12. Energy
13. Education
14. Veterans Affairs
15. Homeland Security

The president may designate additional positions to be members of the Cabinet, which can vary under each president. Cabinet members are not in the line of succession like secretaries and are not necessarily officers of the United States.

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United Kingdom

The United Kingdom, with a similar population of 68.35 million, has 22 people in its Cabinet – 20 if you exclude the Prime Minister and his deputy.

The United Kingdom’s GDP remains significantly larger than South Africa’s, estimated to reach $3.730 trillion in 2025.

Many of the Cabinet officials serve multiple roles.

The Prime Minister also has the title of First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and the Minister for the Union, while the Deputy Prime Minister serves as Secretary of State [Minister] for Housing, Communities and Local Government

The other 20 Cabinet officials are:

1. Chancellor of the Exchequer
2. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
3. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
4. Home Department
5. Defence
6. Lord Chancellor and Justice
7. Health and Social Care
8. Education and Minister for Women and Equalities
9. Energy Security and Net Zero
10. Work and Pensions
11. Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade
12. Science, Innovation and Technology
13. Transport
14. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
15. Culture, Media and Sport
16. Northern Ireland
17. Scotland
18. Wales
19. Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
20. Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords

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Japan

Japan, with a population of around 125 million and a GDP of $4.4 trillion, has 20 Cabinet members, including the Prime Minister.

Ministers serve multiple portfolios, including:

1. Internal Affairs and Communications
2. Justice
3. Foreign Affairs
4. Finance, State for Financial Services, Overcoming Deflation
5. Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
6. Health, Labour and Welfare
7. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
8. Economy, Trade and Industry, State for the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation
9. Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, in charge of Water Cycle Policy, World Horticultural Exhibition Yokohama 2027
10. Environment, State for Nuclear Emergency Preparedness
11. Defence
12. Chief Cabinet Secretary
13. Digital Transformation, in charge of Digital Administrative and Fiscal Reforms, Digital Garden City Nation Vision, Administrative Reform, Civil Service Reform, State for Regulatory Reform
14. Reconstruction, in charge of Comprehensive Policy Coordination for Revival from the Nuclear Accident at Fukushima
15. Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, in charge of Building National Resilience, Territorial Issues, State for Disaster Management and Ocean Policy
16. Policies Related to Children, Measures for Declining Birthrate, Youth’s Empowerment, Gender Equality, in charge of Women’s Empowerment, Cohesive Society, Measures for Loneliness and Isolation
17. Economic Revitalization, New Capitalism, Startups, Infectious Disease Crisis Management, Social Security Reform, State for Economic and Fiscal Policy
18. Economic Security, State for “Cool Japan” Strategy, Intellectual Property Strategy, Science and Technology Policy, Space Policy
19. State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs, Consumer Affairs and Food Safety, Regional Revitalisation, Ainu-Related Policies, and World Expo 2025

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Canada

Canada, with a population of over 40.1 million and a GDP of over $2.14 trillion, has a Cabinet of 24 members, including the Prime Minister.

This includes:

1. International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada
2. Foreign Affairs and International Development
3. Finance
4. Innovation, Science and Industry
5. National Defence
6. Indigenous Services
7. Energy and Natural Resources
8. President of the Treasury Board
9. Canadian Culture and Identity, Parks Canada and Quebec Lieutenant
10. Transport and Internal Trade
11. Health
12. Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
13. Chief Government Whip
14. Jobs and Families
15. Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
16. Environment and Climate Change
17. Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
18. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
19. Veterans Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency
20. Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
21. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Democratic Institutions
22. Agriculture and Agri-Food and Rural Economic Development
23. Government Transformation, Public Services and Procurement

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