ActionSA has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove all 42 remaining deputy ministers following his decision to fire Andrew Whitfield, who was the Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister.
The Presidency confirmed Whitfields axing on Thursday 26 June after he reportedly failed to obtain Ramaphosas permission before travelling to the United States in February.
ActionSAs call to abolish deputy minister positionsIn a statement on Thursday, ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said Ramaphosa's cabinet is not only one of the largest in the world but also deeply ineffective.
The President must seize this moment, as ActionSA has long urged, to right-size the cabinet and restore effective governance, he said.
Trollip said this was a missed opportunity for the President to cut the dead wood and remove those tainted by corruption and mismanagement from his cabinet.
While the President inevitably pursues inaction, ActionSA is proud to have introduced our Enhanced Cut Cabinet Perks Bill to slash cabinet perks and rein in executive excess, he added.
This Bill is part of our Cabinet Reform Package, which will soon see us table a Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament to abolish the position of deputy ministers altogether, measures that together could conservatively save South Africans R1.5 billion a year.
The Economic Freedom Fighters EFF has also previously called for the scrapping of deputy minister positions.
The EFF reiterates that deputy ministerial positions serve no purpose other than to reward political loyalty and secure salaries for the connected elite, it said in response to a cabinet reshuffle in December last year.
However, in a recent parliamentary reply, Ramaphosa said deputy ministers serve an important role in government by assisting ministers to perform their work.
