OPINION | DP must be entrusted with ministerial responsibilities

Paul Mashatile will probably be the next president of South Africa. If the ANC wins elections in 2024, there is a great chance that Paul Mashatile will become the president of the republic by 2027 or early 2028.

Besides DD Mabuza, Every ANC Deputy president went on to become the president of the republic. The only difference is with Dr Kgalema Motlanthe who was a "caretaker" president before becoming the deputy president of the ANC and the country.

Out of all the deputy presidents that we had in South Africa, Paul Mashatile stands apart in his history of ministerial experience. South Africa has been led by presidents who never served as ministers first. Kgalema Motlanthe, again, is a different case as he did serve as Minister in the Presidency for two months in 2008.

The office of the deputy president is powerful but sometimes rendered meaningless. This is because of how the office is not properly used as a training ground for a president in waiting. Many will remember how President Nelson Mandela hugely empowered and trained Thabo Mbeki to take over the big seat. Mr Mbeki was left to run the government while Ntate Mandela was for the most part a National Figurehead.

This was the last time South Africa had this type of a relationship in the Presidency. Other presidential relationships have been less trusting: Mbeki did not trust Zuma. Zuma did not trust Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa did not trust Mabuza.

It is not a new thing. Our history shows us that in the 1920s Deputy prime minister Tielman Roos and Prime Minister Barry Hertzog had a very difficult relationship, with Ross often contracting his boss in public. On the other hand, Jan Smuts and his trusted lieutenant Jannie Hofmeyr had a mutually respectful and trusting relationship in the 1940s.

A deputy president must be given a ministerial portfolio of his or her own to run, alongside being deputy president. Such an arrangement will not be something new. Today, the deputy prime ministers of Canada and UK  hold portfolios of finance and justice respectively. In his first term, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was even his own minister of youth and of intergovernmental affairs.

This double appointment signals priority areas for an administration, allows for hands-on leadership and more importantly, it prevents the president-in-waiting from hiding their incompetence behind ministers. Think about it.

---------------------------------------------------'zzz









Special credit to Bhaso Ndzendze who is the head of UJs Department of Politics and International Relations. He is leading a research study on the executive powers of the president.

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