Cyril Ramaphosa (L) will be sworn in as president at an inauguration ceremony at Loftus stadium in Pretoria on Saturday. (David Harrison/M&G)
President Cyril Ramaphosa says he believes his picks for Cabinet will be the best he has to offer the country.
Speaking after addressing the ANC caucus in Parliament on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said he is still finalising just how his administration will look like.
Ramaphosa today registered as a member of Parliament ahead of the MPs swearing-in ceremony in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Ramaphosa will be sworn as a member of the legislature along with 399 other MPs.
Their first task will be to elect a speaker for the National Assembly and then a deputy Speaker.
Current national council of provinces (NCOP) chairperson Thandi Modise has been tipped by the ANC to take over from outgoing Speaker Baleka Mbete, while Lechesa Tsenoli will retain his position as deputy Speaker.
Afterwards, MPs will elect the president of the Republic.
The ANC will nominate Cyril Ramaphosa, and if no other parties nominate a candidate he will be elected unopposed.
He will then immediately resign as an MP.
At the caucus meeting held behind closed doors, ANC MPs were introduced to their new Parliamentary bosses.
Former Eastern Cape Public Works MEC Pemmy Majodina will be the party’s chief whip. While Doris Dlakude will continue her role as Deputy Chief Whip.
Questions still remain about the appointment of Environmental Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane as Parliament’s Chair of Chairs which is a fairly senior position in the running and administration of Parliament’s oversight work.
Mokonyane has been implicated in alleged kick-backs emanating from testimony at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture.
Asked by journalists how he plans to formulate his team, especially considering his promises of streamlining and reconfiguring the size of the cabinet, Ramaphosa said it’s still a work in progress.
“It’s not sleepless nights. It’s the work that we have to do. Everybody knows we’ve got to do this work and that’s what we’re working on now. And we’ll present an outcome that I think our country will welcome and be pleased with,” he said.
The characteristically playful Ramaphosa says South Africans must just wait and see.
“It will have a very good balance of gender, youth, competence, demographic and regional spread. So you wait and see, watch this space.”
Ramaphosa will be sworn in as president at an inauguration ceremony at Loftus stadium in Pretoria on Saturday.
He is expected to announce his cabinet in the following days.