PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki on Monday promoted husband and wife team, Charles Nqakula and Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, in a cabinet reshuffle necessitated by the death of Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete.
Nqakula, a Mbeki confidante and the deputy minister of home affairs, replaces Tshwete who died on April 26 and was buried at the weekend.
Whereas Tshwete was legendary for his abrasive and outspoken style, Nqakula is regarded as more unassuming, and according to at least one newspaper columnist, ”wise and considered”.
Mapisa-Nqakula, who five months ago was appointed to lead the ANC in Parliament as Chief Whip, succeeds her husband as deputy minister.
Monday’s appointment marks the second cabinet reshuffle since the president took office and significantly did not include a post for the New National Party, which entered into a co-operation pact with the African National Congress.
The January 2001 reshuffle was a result of then Intelligence Minister Joe Nhlanhla’s ill health.
Political commentators believed that this time around a major Cabinet reshuffle was never on the cards, especially ahead of the ANC’s national congress in December.
Nqakula, is a former journalist, who left South Africa to join the ANC’s armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe in exile. He received military training in Angola and the then Soviet Union and East
Germany.
He was infiltrated back into South Africa as one of the commanders of Operation Vula, with a mission to build viable underground and military structures.
Mapisa-Nqakula, only recently made significant changes to the ANC in Parliament, and was highly regarded as someone who could crack the whip and get the party back into shape in the institution.
She is a member of the ANC national executive committee and the women’s league, and was always one of the ANC’s rising stars.
The ANC in Parliament said her deputy, Andries Nel, would be the party’s acting chief whip until the ANC’s leadership could appoint a replacement.
ANC representative Mike Ramagoma said this would be done soon to ensure as little disruption as possible. Mapisa-Nqakula had been surprised by her appointment.
”I don’t think she expected it. It’s a decision from the highest level,” he said.
Opposition parties on Monday said they were not surprised by Nqakula’s appointment, who was widely tipped to succeed Tshwete. Democratic Alliance Chief Whip Douglas Gibson said if Nqakula was successful in reducing crime levels to an acceptable level, he could be assured the DA’s support. Velaphi Ndlovu, from the Inkatha Freedom Party welcomed the announcement. He believed Nqakula would ”be able to follow in Tshwete’s footsteps” and accelerate the anti-crime programme Tshwete had put in place.
NNP deputy executive director Darryl Swanepoel said his party believed both were competent appointments.
Peter Gastrow of the Institute for Security Studies said Nqakula was untested in the ”high-profile, pressured portfolio” into which he was stepping.
An advantage was that Nqakula was starting off ”without any baggage”.
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi was among those who welcomed the appointment, while the SA Communist Party said Nqakula’s appointment affirmed the role played by communists in building a better life for all South Africans.
Nqakula, who was appointed SACP secretary-general after Chris Hani’s assassination in 1993, is now that party’s national chairman. ? Sapa