SCORE: E Blade Nzimande faces allegations of bribery for the procurement of tenders at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). Although the minister has refuted the claims, his ethics have been questioned. The department received a clean audit but salary adjustments in the first quarter of 2024 caused variances. It planned to spend R1.711 billion […]
SCORE: D Before Mmamoloko Kubayi was moved to the department of justice and constitutional development on 3 December, the minister appeared to have had a good handle on the human settlements portfolio. It received a clean audit during the 2023-23 financial year, and there was no fruitless and wasteful expenditure either. The minister stabilised her […]
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: 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 Public Service and Administration Minister Mzamo Buthelezi has, so far, managed to avoid a deadlock with unions for the 2025-26 and beyond wage negotiations. In October, the government and unions agreed to continue the wage negotiations for the country’s roughly 1.3 million civil servants after Mzamo’s department tabled a 4.7% increase for the […]
SCORE: B Dean Macpherson immediately rolled up his sleeves and faced the construction mafia. He has also demonstrated determination and taken action to deal with hundreds of dilapidated state-owned buildings that are costing his department millions of rands in rates when they could be sold or fixed to generate income that can be used to […]
SCORE: C Since Aaron Motsoaledi’s appointment, the department has been faced with a spike in foodborne illness, which initiated investigations to trace the cause and the regulation of spaza shops and their owners. This step illustrated positive reinforcement by Motsoaledi to improve oversight of food safety measures taken to decrease the risk of contamination. The […]
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 […]
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 […]