Opposition parties in the Western Cape have criticised Premier Alan Winde for the composition of his new cabinet.
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On Thursday, Winde announced a reshuffle, which included the removal of Nomafrench Mbombo as the Health MEC and Reagen Allen as the Community and Safety Oversight MEC.
Mbombo, who has been in charge of the health portfolio since 2015, is now a member of the provincial legislature, and Allen has been appointed deputy speaker.
Other surprises included the appointment of Deidre Baartman as the Finance MEC, Isaac Sileku as the Mobility MEC, and Jaco Londt as the Social Development MEC.
Anroux Marais takes over the police oversight and community safety portfolio, leaving cultural affairs and sport.
Ricardo Mackenzie is the new Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC, leaving the mobility portfolio, and Mireille Wenger moves to the health and wellness portfolio from finance.
The following posts remain unchanged:
Tertuis Simmers as the Infrastructure MEC; Anton Bredell as the Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC; David Maynier as the Education MEC; and Ivan Meyer as the Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism MEC.
Opposition parties in the province criticised the appointments.
ANC leader in the provincial legislature Khalid Sayed said the provincial cabinet illustrated a ‘lack of seriousness in terms of dealing with the challenges faced by the majority of residents of the Western Cape,’ ‘the majority of whom are poor and working class.’
‘This province remains largely untransformed, and this particular cabinet reflects a lack of seriousness to deal with that. We also see that African women, who have been the most dispossessed and oppressed in our society, are excluded from this particular cabinet, and that is wrong. You find someone being moved from finance, economic development and tourism, suddenly to health, which is a service delivery-based department,’ he added.
EFF chief whip in the legislature Aishah Cassiem said the fact that the cabinet comprised seven men and three women spoke for itself.
She said, ‘There are also only six women in their entire DA caucus, which clearly shows that the DA doesn’t value the contribution of women. When the majority of voters are women, we hope that women will have learnt their lesson by voting for a chauvinistic political party like the DA.’
‘It is also disappointing to see a competent black healthcare professional like Nomafrench Mbombo replaced by someone who has no knowledge and experience in healthcare. We also need a sober-minded MEC for sports, art and culture who will understand the critical role this portfolio can play in inspiring youth who have shown capacity in those areas,’ she said.
GOOD MPL Brett Herron said the election and appointments in the Western Cape leadership provided a clear sign of what to expect in the next five years.
‘Despite receiving a clear mandate to make significant changes, the DA-led province seems set on maintaining the comfortable status quo. The three positions elected by the DA-majority in the provincial legislature went to men- the premier, speaker, and deputy speaker posts.’
He said, ‘Premier Winde then proceeded to announce his team, which saw the removal of the only black woman from the cabinet, Dr Nomafrench Mbombo, who was also the only cabinet member professionally qualified in the role she was serving in.’
In response to the changes, Winde told reporters, ‘You have to make these choices, as I said to the full team, when you [are] a rugby coach, you put some people on the benches and some people on the field and that’s what I had to do.’
He added that the cabinet was ‘carefully put together with the pledges of the provincial government in mind.’
‘The residents of our extraordinary province have given us the mandate to continue in office and keep working to improve their lives. We owe it to our more than seven million residents to ensure that we do not let them down. Our focus and commitment will not waiver: we are more determined than ever to grow our economy, create more jobs, and make the Western Cape safer,’ he said.
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Picture: Brenton Geach / Gallo Images
