Second Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa

Second Ramaphosa Cabinet
8th Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa (since the 1994 elections)
2019–2024
President Ramaphosa in 2022
Date formed	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)
Date dissolved	19 June 2024 (2024-06-19) (5 years and 21 days)
People and organisations
President	Cyril Ramaphosa
Deputy President	David Mabuza (until Feb. 2023) Paul Mashatile (from Mar. 2023)
No. of ministers	30 ministers
Member party	African National Congress Good
Status in legislature	Majority
Opposition party	Democratic Alliance
Opposition leader	Mmusi Maimane (until Oct. 2019) John Steenhuisen (from Oct. 2019)
History
Election	2019 election
Legislature term	Sixth Parliament
Predecessor	Ramaphosa I
Successor	Ramaphosa III

The Second Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa was the cabinet of the government of South Africa between 29 May 2019 and 19 June 2024. It was formed by President Ramaphosa after the 2019 general election and dissolved after the 2024 general election. In the interim it was reshuffled twice – once in August 2021 and once in March 2023 – and augmented in size from 28 ministers to 30 ministers.

The African National Congress (ANC) won a majority in the 2019 general election and President Cyril Ramaphosa was elected to his first full term as President of South Africa. After his inauguration on 25 May 2019,^[1] he announced his cabinet on 29 May.^[2][3] The newly appointed ministers were sworn in the next day by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria.^[4][5]

The cabinet was the third cabinet in Africa to reach complete gender parity in its composition and the first gender-equal cabinet in South African history.^[6] All of its members were affiliated with Ramaphosa's ANC, except for Patricia de Lille, the leader of Good, who was appointed as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure. De Lille said that her party would remain an opposition party in the National Assembly, her appointment to government notwithstanding.^[7]

Ramaphosa reduced the size of the cabinet from 36 to 28 portfolios through the amalgamation of several departments.^[8] These changes were:

• The Department of Trade and Industry was combined with the Department of Economic Development.
• The Department of Higher Education and Training was combined with the Department of Science and Technology.
• The Department of Environmental Affairs was combined with the Department of Forestry and Fisheries.
• The Department of Agriculture was combined with the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development.
• The Department of Mineral Resources was combined with the Department of Energy.
• The Department of Human Settlements was combined with the Department of Water and Sanitation.
• The Department of Sports and Recreation was combined with the Department of Arts and Culture.^[2]

On 5 August 2021, Ramaphosa announced a major cabinet reshuffle, occasioned by the resignations of Minister Zweli Mkhize and Minister Tito Mboweni and the deaths of Minister Jackson Mthembu and Deputy Minister Bavelile Hlongwa.^[9] The reshuffle also involved changes to the security ministries in response to the recent civil unrest.^[10]

Most notably, the Ministry of State Security was abolished, and authority for the State Security Agency moved instead to the Presidency, where it was held by a newly appointed Deputy Minister in the Presidency with responsibility for state security.^[11] In addition, the Ministry of Human Settlements and Ministry of Water and Sanitation were separated again, after their abortive two-year union as the Ministry of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation.^[9]

On 6 March 2023, Ramaphosa again reshuffled his cabinet, this time in the aftermath of his victory at the ANC's 55th National Conference.^[12] The reshuffle was occasioned in large part by the resignation of David Mabuza as Deputy President of South Africa; he was replaced by Paul Mashatile.^[13]

Alongside other changes, Ramaphosa created two new Ministers in the Presidency: the Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, with responsibility for the ongoing South African energy crisis, and the Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, with responsibility for the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.^[14]

During his speech at the debate on the State of the Nation Address on 14 February 2022, the Leader of the Opposition, John Steenhuisen of the Democratic Alliance (DA), announced that he had tabled a motion of no confidence in the Cabinet, excluding President Ramaphosa, in terms of Section 102(1) of the Constitution.^[15][16] This was the first time in South African history that a motion of no confidence in the cabinet was tabled.^[17]

On 10 March, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, announced that the debate and vote on the motion of no confidence against the Cabinet would be held on 30 March.^[18] The DA requested that the vote be held by secret ballot, but Mapisa-Nqakula rejected their request on 25 March.^[19] In the vote of 30 March, the motion was defeated in the National Assembly by a margin of 100 votes (131 in favour, 231 opposed and one abstention).^[20] The DA, the Economic Freedom Fighters, the United Democratic Movement, the African Transformation Movement, and the Freedom Front Plus voted in favour of the motion, while the ANC, Good, the National Freedom Party, the Inkatha Freedom Party, and Al Jama-ah voted against it.^[21]

Although deputy ministers are not members of the cabinet, they are appointed by the president and assist cabinet ministers in the execution of their duties. During the term of Ramaphosa's second cabinet, they were, like the cabinet, appointed in May 2019^[22] and reshuffled in August 2021^[23] and March 2023.^[13]

The Ministries of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation; Water and Sanitation; International Relations and Cooperation; Trade, Industry and Competition; Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; and Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development all had two deputy ministers throughout their tenure. In addition, in 2021, Ramaphosa appointed a second Deputy Minister in the Presidency without portfolio, in addition to the specialised Deputy Ministers in the Presidency (the Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities; the Deputy Minister in the Presidency for State Security from 2021 to 2023; and the Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation from 2023). The Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Electricity did not have a deputy.^[13]

• Cabinet of South Africa
• Shadow Cabinet of Mmusi Maimane
• Shadow Cabinet of John Steenhuisen

• Photo gallery: Faces of government at GCIS