Tension between the Inkatha Freedom Party and the African National Congress had not been the cause of the IFP’s losing one of its three Cabinet posts, the presidency said on Tuesday.
Former arts, culture, science and technology minister Ben Ngubane took up, from Monday, an ambassadorship to Japan. His post was given to current Minerals and Energy Affairs Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, an ANC MP.
The IFP has two deputy ministers among its ranks.
Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said tensions between the IFP and the ANC were not the reason President Thabo Mbeki gave the Ngubane’s portfolio to Mlambo-Ngcuka.
He said Mbeki had merely wanted to appoint someone who had a sense of what was going on in the department.
”The nature of the relationship between the ANC and the IFP does not come into it. What came to his mind was finding a minister that could hit the ground running.”
”The president felt Phumzile is the best person for the job. He will always go for the minister who has a sense of what is going in the department. When Dullah Omar was sick, the president appointed Jeff Radebe to take over his duties because he had a sense of the department,” he said.
Khumalo stressed that Mlambo-Ngcuka would only remain in the position until the new president chose a Cabinet.
Relations between the two parties have been increasingly strained over the past two years, exacerbated by tensions in KwaZulu-Natal where they govern jointly.
IFP spokesperson Musa Zondi could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, the KwaZulu-Natal branch of the ANC has offered its congratulations to both Ngubane and Mlambo-Ngcuka.
”The ANC is certain that ambassador Dr Ben Ngubane will again serve the people of South Africa with distinction as he did as a Cabinet minister in both the first and second democratic governments of South Africa,” branch spokesperson Dumisani Makhaye said.
He said the party was equally certain that Mlambo-Ngcuka had shoulders to carry the two portfolios appointed to her. — Sapa