SCORE: D- Known for her flamboyant hats and headdress, Pemmy Majodina has big shoes to fill. Her predecessor, Senzo Mchunu, drew widespread praise for his tireless efforts to turn around the department, which had been hollowed out by state capture. She is still in the early stages of her tenure and under close scrutiny and […]
SCORE: F- So broken and badly managed is the department of defence that three men on a donkey with a duct-taped drone could possibly topple Pretoria. The department incurred unauthorised expenditure of R3.4 billion in 2023-24, making it not so much a department as a place where taxpayer money goes to cough up and die. […]
SCORE: B In his first six months leading the department of trade, industry and competition, Parks Tau has made effective moves. He led the delegation to the United States to lobby for the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa) agreement. Alongside other African ministers of trade Tau urged the Biden administration and […]
SCORE: C+ One of the first actions of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania president on taking office was to drop his plan to scrap section 25 of the Constitution and to instead focus on using existing legislation to secure access to land. Mzwanele Nyhontsho inherited a backlog of just over 5 700 land claims from […]
SCORE: B Leon Schreiber did two laudable things after he landed at the home affairs department. First, he conceded what every South African and many foreigners know — the litany of incompetence, backlogs and corruption. Second, he decided to revive the Immigration Advisory Board, which his predecessors had mothballed despite it being mandatory in law. […]
SCORE: E Besides filling up venues for the ANC Women’s League prayer evenings and marches against gender-based violence, one has to scratch one’s head to figure out exactly what Sisisi Tolashe’s track record as minister is. She took over the department after serving in the sixth administration as the deputy minister in the presidency for […]
SCORE: C Minister Barbara Creecy succeeded the inept Sindisiwe Chikunga when the seventh administration began in July. The baggage she has to sort out is plentiful. The department’s reintroduction of the country’s passenger rail system has been rocked by a potential R5.1 billion lawsuit for debts not paid to a service provider. The contractor had […]
SCORE: E- Nomakhosazana Meth was appointed to the portfolio under the government of national unity, but even in those few months, her efforts to put measures in place to create jobs, alleviate poverty, safeguard workers’ rights and ensure workplace compliance were not satisfactory. During the second quarter, the unemployment rate reached a two-year high of […]
SCORE: B Solly Malatsi has hit the ground running as a rookie minister — perhaps a reflection of the fact that he is one of the youngest members of cabinet at a youthful 38 years. In September, Malatsi received a forensic report on governance and financial breaches at the Postbank that resulted in financial losses […]
SCORE: C+ There has been a case of new ooms sweeping clean in the prisons department, where new minister Pieter Groenewald has made significant progress. Groenewald has identified five priorities in reforming the parole system; maintenance of 243 prisons; easing overcrowding (prisons are on average 46% over capacity); food production in all prisons and improving […]