'This oath will judge you' - Mogoeng swears in Mabuza, new ministers - As it happened
2018-02-27 18:30"This oath will judge you," Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng warned incoming Cabinet members, minutes before deputy president David Mabuza, nine new ministers and five deputy ministers were sworn in.
The swearing-in ceremony is over.
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"I want to thank you all [chief justice and deputy] for saying what you said. It has great meaning, and will go into the annals of history and democracy. Sage words that were pronounced by the Chief Justice.
"I thought I should rise to say thank you to the ministers, the deputy president and the deputy ministers."
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David Mabuza now taking his oath of affirmation to become new deputy president.
"I David Dabede Mabuza swear that I will be faithful to the republic of South Africa, and will obey, uphold and maintain the Constitution, and all other law of the republic, and solemnly and sincerely promise that I will promote all that will advance the republic, and oppose all that may harm it."
Chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng delivering an impassioned rationale for why these new ministers should take an oath.
He also delivers a warning.
"You cannot read out this oath as if its inconsequential," Mogoeng says.
"This oath of affirmation is going to judge you.
"It would not have found its way into our most important document, the Constitution.
"So may we all be warned..."
The debate on land expropriation has ended, with the National Assembly adopting a motion to set up an ad hoc committee to probe the feasibility of amending the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation.
R2K continued its questioning of certain ministers to certain portfolios.
"In Bheki Cele, we have a Minister of Police who, as former head of police, advocated police brutality and ‘shoot to kill’ policies and oversaw a corrupt leasing deal that led to his firing. We cannot forget that his attempts to cover up this deal led to the arrest and detention of journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika, and the illegal spying on the phone communication of wa Afrika and his colleague Stephan Hofstatter. Only the most junior official involved in that spying was charged and prosecuted: Cele has never come clean on his involvement in this illegal action, which was surely authorised at the highest levels. We are left wondering what Cele will do differently now that he is Minister?
"However, it is the announcement of David Mabuza as incoming deputy president of South Africa that is most outrageous. As Premier of Mpumalanga Mabuza has led and managed a province that has been rife with corruption, political killings, and threats to journalists, whistleblowers and political dissidents. His open boast of having journalists spied on in his province is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Inspector General of Intelligence. Mabuza is now one heartbeat away from being President of the country.
"As R2K we are dismayed by the retention of Bathabile Dlamini. She was convicted and fined in 2006 after pleading guilty to fraud in the TravelGate scandal. Since then she has done nothing in demonstrating that she has abandoned her corrupt ways. She is now the subject of an inquiry into her conduct in the social grants scandal which has plagued South Africa since 2013.
"We note the appointment of Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba as Minister of State Security. We reserve judgement on the new Minister until she can show her willingness to undo the securocratic legacy of her predecessors, who have allowed the SSA to become increasingly politicised and involved in abusive and even criminal activity. Her first task must be to fire Director General Arthur Fraser as spy boss."
The Right2Know (R2K) campaign has welcomed the sacking of some ministers from President Cyril Ramaphosa's new Cabinet, but slammed others, including the redeployment of Nomvula Mokonyane.
"In Nomvula Mokonyane, South Africa has its eighth Communications Minister in as many years, and fourth one in 12 months," an R2K statement read on Tuesday.
"This portfolio, which has a crucial role of ensuring the free flow of information and media plurality for all South Africans, has often been used either as a dumping site for non-performing Ministers or to try turn the public broadcaster and community media organisations into state mouthpieces.
"Mokonyane’s performance in other portfolios, most especially her recent stint as Water Affairs and Sanitation Minister, has not inspired confidence."
"As the ANC we welcome the appointments the President has made. We are particularly happy because there was thorough consultation with the ANC, but also with alliance partners," Mashatile added outside the Speaker's office.
Mashatile said the newly-sworn-in MPs, including incoming deputy president Mabuza, will be available to chat to the media after they are sworn in as Cabinet members around 16:00.
WATCH below:
"When the president considers appointments of Cabinet, he takes a lot of issues into account; experience and all variety of issues," Mashatile told journalists outside the Speaker's office.
"This was not just a quick thing. The president went on thorough consultation and we are all happy that this was a very proper process."
Banking association commends Ramaphosa on Nene appointment
The Banking Association of South Africa has applauded President Cyril Ramaphosa's new Cabinet as a "significant step" in boosting investor confidence, in particular welcoming the return of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister.
WATCH: Incoming Deputy President David Mabuza smiled and waved to the media as he left National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete's office after being sworn in as an MP.
He will be sworn in as deputy president at 16:00 later on Tuesday.
ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe told the assembled the media that they will get a chance to get reaction from the ANC at a different forum, to avoid "waving microphones in ministers' faces".
