President Jacob Zuma received an “F” and the average Cabinet score was a “D”, according to the DA’s annual Cabinet report card.
The DA said Zuma did not defend the Constitution and, instead, attacked it.
“Since he was appointed president, the judicial services, the organ of state charged with protecting the ‘independence, impartiality, dignity accessibility and effectiveness of the courts’, has been politicised to the point where a majority of the representatives are ANC political appointments,” DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said.
However, it was not all bad marks — of the 29 ministers that were in the same Cabinet positions this time last year, 15 had either kept the same score or improved their grade.
The best performing Cabinet member, the only one to be awarded an “A”, was Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor due to her dedicated lobbying for South Africa to host the prestigious Square Kilometre Array telescope, while being one of the most regular Cabinet attendees in the National Assembly.
High achievers
Other high achievers were Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Those ministers who rated most poorly this year were State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Minister Collins Chabane, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and Women, Children and People with Disabilities Minister Lulu Xingwana.
Some ministers improved compared to last year.
Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma improved from a “D” to a “C+”, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters improved from a “C” to a “C+”, Higher Education Minister and Training Blade Nzimande received a “D” compared to last year’s “F” and Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi rose to a grade “D” from an “E” previously. — I-Net Bridge