Not possible to reduce size of executive right now, Ramaphosa tells MPs
On Thursday, BOSA leader Mmusi Maimane again appealed to President Ramaphosa to slash the size of the executive and the more than half a billion rand in salaries for ministers, deputies and their staff.
President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared before the National Assembly for an oral question-and-answer session on 18 October 2024. Picture: @ParliamentofRSA/X
CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa said that for the sake of stability within the Government of National Unity (GNU), it’s not possible to reduce the size of the executive and in so doing cut costs.
On Thursday, Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane again appealed to Ramaphosa to slash the size of the executive and the more than half a billion rand in salaries for ministers, deputies and their staff.
The size of the executive has been a bugbear of opposition parties since Ramaphosa took office in 2018.
The GNU executive is now the largest it's ever been, with 32 ministers and 43 deputies.
Maimane said that while it’s undeniable the GNU has sprouted some green shoots, the cost of sustaining the executive remains concerning.
In a question to the president in the National Assembly on Thursday, Maimane appealed to the president to do away with deputy ministers and free up money for education.
Maimane has been driving this agenda since he was the Democratic Alliance (DA) leader.
But the president said that while he raised the issue during the talks to establish a GNU, now was not the right time to act on it.
"Yes, I have said in the past we need to reduce our executive, but this time, due to the exigency of the situation we faced, as well as the circumstances that we are subjected to, we had to come to this point."
Ramaphosa said the matter would remain top of mind and would be keeping a close watch on the expenditure.