DA leader John Steenhuisen and ANC leader and South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa. The government of national unity has 43 deputy ministers. If that number was trimmed, R100 million a year could be saved. Photo: GCIS
In a time of service delivery failures, South Africa must take a hard look at its executive. Not just the quality of leadership but the sheer quantity of members. At a time when citizens are told to tighten their belts, and government departments are urged to cut spending, the executive branch remains bloated, inefficient and largely shielded from scrutiny.
With the government of national unity (GNU) after the May 2024 elections, President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled one of the largest cabinets in democratic history, consisting of 32 ministers and 43 deputy ministers. This was described as a “political balancing act”, rather than an exercise in administrative efficiency.
Each deputy minister earns more than R2 million a year, plus travel allowances, housing and VIP protection, yet they carry no constitutional executive authority. They are not members of the cabinet and cannot stand in for ministers unless the president appoints a sitting minister to act in a colleague’s absence. The constitutional provision (section 93) clearly states that deputy ministers exist only to assist ministers — which often means reading speeches, attending ceremonial events and occupying symbolic roles during outreach initiatives.
This raises the question — why are South Africans paying nearly R100 million annually for deputies whose contributions are neither measurable nor legally significant?
The cabinet appointments have amplified this contradiction. Many of the 43 deputies appointed in July 2024 are not technocrats but rather political appointees, placed to appease alliance partners and opposition factions — not to drive service delivery. The minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, for instance, now has two deputies, despite municipalities being largely in financial ruin, with 66 out of 257 municipalities deemed dysfunctional by the auditor general.
This redundancy of roles is not only expensive, it is unjustifiable in the face of mounting austerity. The auditor general’s 2023-24 Municipal Finance Management Act report highlights R22 billion in irregular expenditure, most of it from departments overseen by ministers with deputies. If anything, the proliferation of deputies has correlated with increased mismanagement, not improved outcomes.
This is not an isolated critique. In 2015, then president Jacob Zuma appointed a similarly oversized cabinet — 35 ministers and 37 deputy ministers — attracting widespread criticism. Even then, commentators noted that countries with larger populations and GDPs, such as China (20 ministers) and Russia (23 ministers), operated more efficiently with leaner executives.
So what exactly do South African deputy ministers do?
There is no legally binding list of responsibilities for deputy ministers. They are not assigned key performance indicators in the same way that directors general are. They do not chair portfolio committees or oversee procurement decisions.
In fact, many remain largely invisible until public scandals or parliamentary debates put them in the spotlight. One notorious example was the 2013 revelation that then deputy minister of agriculture, Bheki Cele, had racked up hundreds of thousands in travel claims without attending a single provincial outreach session.
And when they’re not invisible, they’re interchangeable. Deputy ministers are reshuffled frequently — with few, if any, consequences tied to performance. In the July 2024 cabinet reshuffle, more than a dozen deputy ministers were retained or reappointed despite having little public record of being effective. This creates deadweight politics — where individuals are paid handsomely to exist in government without contributing meaningfully to its function.
It’s not that all deputy ministers are ineffectual. Some work hard behind the scenes. But without transparency, reporting or structured oversight, we cannot separate the active from the idle. The National Development Plan calls for a professionalised public service, where merit and delivery are prioritised over political accommodation. The current system of deputy ministers flies in the face of this ideal.
Moreover, at the provincial level, governments function without deputy members of executive councils. Departments are managed by one MEC and a team of civil servants. So why not replicate this model nationally?
The government’s own spending reviews have previously flagged the costs of the executive. In 2020, the treasury proposed a leaner cabinet structure to reduce fiscal waste. These recommendations were quietly shelved. Yet now, as we stare down economic stagnation, record youth unemployment and failing infrastructure, we can no longer afford to sidestep these structural inefficiencies.
Cutting deputy ministers might not fix South Africa’s budget deficit overnight, but it sends a powerful signal — we are serious about governance reform. We are serious about performance. We are serious about value for money.
It would also strengthen the credibility of the government in the eyes of citizens, who are increasingly disillusioned. According to the 2023 Afrobarometer survey, only 23% of South Africans trust the president to do what is right. Among young people, this number is even lower. When people protest over poor service delivery, they don’t demand more deputies. They demand water, sanitation, jobs — and leaders who show up, account and deliver.
The existence of 43 deputy ministers, many of whom are redundant, sends a clear message — the state exists to serve political interests first, public interests second.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The Constitution gives the president full discretion over whether to appoint deputy ministers. There is no legal obligation to do so. If President Cyril Ramaphosa wants to lead a truly efficient and ethical GNU, he must start by trimming the fat. A smaller, smarter cabinet is not a political risk, it’s a governance necessity.
Cutting down on deputy ministers is not just about saving R100 million annually, it’s about restoring the integrity of the executive. It’s about showing citizens that the government will lead by example. It’s about building a leaner state capable of delivery, not just diplomacy.
South Africa deserves a cabinet that works — not one that coasts.
Dr Lesedi Senamele Matlala is a public policy and digital governance lecturer at the University of Johannesburg, at the School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy.