The Democratic Alliance (DA) has issued what it calls an evaluation of how ministers have performed against performance agreements they signed with the President in 2020.
The party says President Cyril Ramaphosa has not held any of his ministers accountable for failing to meet these targets. The party says only three ministers have achieved over 50 percent of the targets.
The DA says of the 757 performance targets that ministers committed to achieving, only 241 were actually achieved. This represents a performance score of a meagre 32%.
The release of the DA’s performance evaluation is part of preparations for the motion of no confidence in cabinet tabled by the party. It will be debated and voted on next week.
Party Leader John Steenhuisen explains, “These performance agreements paint a picture of a cabinet that has failed at every single aspect of its duty. Not one of these ministers would have passed a performance assessment in the private sector. This raises a question. What does President Ramaphosa consider an acceptable score? In his recent reply to SONA he expressed his complete satisfaction in his cabinet saying, ‘I, President over a cabinet of ministers, committed to their responsibilities. Ministers in whom I have complete confidence as President’.”
Steenhuisen and the DA have emphasised that this is an objective evaluation based on numbers and not their interpretation. Party Spokesperson, Siviwe Gwarube, says they only used the performance agreements that have been made public by the Presidency to conduct their evaluation.
Steenhuisen says the reason the DA has not tabled a motion of no-confidence in the President is because they agree with some of his interventions. They do not believe, however, that he can achieve them with the current cabinet.
“When you are in politics you have to think of strategy and tactics. So practically we could put a motion of no confidence in the President. But what do you do when it succeeds. … I don’t have confidence in the president that he going to get the country going forward. That is why we will contest him in 2024 for the governance and power of this country so that we can turn things around.”
Of the 28 Ministers, only three achieved 50% of their targets. The best performing Minister was Police Minister Bheki Cele although the DA says his performance agreement has generic targets. He got 56%.
The worst performing Ministers are Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi as well as Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu, both achieving 8%.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula gets 16%. Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele a 19%. Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni also achieved 19%. Minister responsible for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities Maite Nkoane-Mashabane achieved 21% of her targets.
Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi and Mineral Resources, Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille as well as Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu achieved 24% of their targets.
The DA wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to act on underperforming Ministers.
“I’m yet to see the outcome of any intervention or any announcements by the president that he’s had, he’s assessed and done these assessments. Where’s his document like this? He should be making a document like this available on an annual basis,” Steenhuisen says.
Government could not be immediately reached for comment. -Additional reporting by Joseph Mosia
