Latest news with #ConstitutionTwenty-SecondAmendmentBill
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Trollip says ActionSA aware uphill battle in efforts to scrap deputy ministers ahead
CAPE TOWN - ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said the party understands it will face an uphill battle in its efforts to have deputy ministers scrapped from Cabinet. The party has announced the Constitution Twenty-Second Amendment Bill, seeking to overhaul the size of the country's executive. ALSO READ: ActionSA's Trollip: Deputy ministers are redundant doormen and doorwomen for their ministers ActionSA said the Cabinet is bloated with 32 Ministers and 43 Deputy Ministers. This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa's appointment of Professor Firoz Cachalia as acting minister, an outsider, despite there being two deputy ministers in the ministry. Trollip said they have a big mountain to climb trying to pass the bill. "We will have to get 2/3 support in Parliament, and it's obvious that parties that are in the GNU [Government of National Unity] that are benefitting from Cabinet posts and deputy minister positions are unlikely to support it. But we will remind a number of those parties that when we were in opposition, they were very much pro in getting rid of deputy ministers and cutting the size of the Cabinet." He added that deputy ministers are a waste of taxpayers' money. "Also, we've looked at other countries with much bigger populations and much bigger economies where they run the country with no deputy ministers and 20 Cabinet ministers. So, we believe that we can run this country or should be running this country with 20 cabinet ministers and no deputy ministers."
Eyewitness News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
ActionSA introduces bill that would see removal of all deputy ministers
CAPE TOWN - ActionSA has introduced the Constitution Twenty-Second Amendment Bill, which, if passed, will see the removal of all current deputy ministers. The party said this would save the country more than R1 billion yearly. This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa's appointment of Professor Firoz Cachalia as acting police minister. ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said South Africa has the biggest Cabinet in the world. 'We have seen that deputy ministers are for all intents and purposes glorified doormen and doorwomen for the ministers. We've seen now in this case with the police incident that they are not good enough to be promoted to become ministers.' Trollip said they want more levels of vetting. 'We believe that obviously the president has the right to select who he wants on his Cabinet, but we believe there must be some kind of screening. We've seen Justice Zondo this weekend saying how it pains him to swear ministers into Cabinet that he had found against in the Zondo commission.'
IOL News
5 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
ActionSA tables bill to slash bloated Cabinet, wants deputy ministers out
A year into South Africa's Government of National Unity, political compromise remains elusive, raising concerns about gridlock, infrastructure decay, and coalition fragility amid hopes for economic reform and unity. Image: Supplied ActionSA has launched a scathing critique of South Africa's bloated executive, announcing a bold Constitutional Amendment Bill that seeks to overhaul the size and structure of Cabinet, starting with the complete abolition of all 43 Deputy Minister posts. In a statement on Sunday, ActionSA MP, Athol Trollip, described deputy ministers as a 'financial waste,' arguing that their inability to act in the absence of ministers renders them functionally redundant. 'If deputy ministers cannot step in during a crisis, what purpose do they serve beyond being instruments of cadre deployment?' he asked. This move comes amid renewed scrutiny of President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet management following a series of high-profile missteps. The most recent being the suspension of Police Minister Bheki Cele, referred to erroneously in ActionSA's release as Senzo Mchunu, amid allegations of interference in investigations. Despite the presence of two deputy ministers in the police ministry, Ramaphosa opted to appoint an outsider, Prof. Firoz Cachalia, as acting minister. Until Cachalia is sworn in, Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe holds the role in a temporary capacity. Trollip also cited the controversial appointment of Thembi Simelane—implicated in the VBS scandal—as Minister of Justice before a midnight portfolio switch with Mmamoloko Kubayi. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ ActionSA has since laid criminal charges against Simelane. ActionSA's Constitution Twenty-Second Amendment Bill proposes four key reforms, including abolishing all deputy minister roles, introducing parliamentary vetting for all ministerial appointments, empowering parliament to remove individual ministers through motions of no confidence and expanding non-MP appointments, allowing up to four ministers to be selected from outside parliament to attract technical expertise. These constitutional changes form part of ActionSA's broader 'Cabinet Reform Package,' first unveiled in March 2025. A companion bill, the Enhanced Cut Cabinet Perks Bill, has also been formally tabled. It seeks to strip the President of unchecked power over the Ministerial Handbook and impose tighter scrutiny on perks and privileges. ActionSA said the reforms could save taxpayers R1.5 billion annually, funds it believes should be redirected to public services and infrastructure instead of sustaining what it calls 'an overstaffed, underperforming executive.' With 75 ministers and deputies, South Africa's executive remains one of the largest in the world—a structure critics argue is unsustainable amid sluggish growth and a deepening fiscal crisis. IOL Politics
