Taxpayers bear the burden of Ramaphosa's bloated cabinet

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been criticised for failing to fulfil his commitment to reduce the size of the cabinet, a pledge made during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) eight years ago.

Opposition parties and political analysts have described this as a tactic of political management, arguing that the expanded cabinet is designed to accommodate coalition partners and internal factions rather than to lessen the financial burden on taxpayers.

In his February 2018 State of the Nation Address (SONA), Ramaphosa promised to reduce the size of his cabinet to cut costs and improve government efficiency, responding to long-standing criticism regarding excessive spending. 

While he later reduced the number of ministers from 36 to  28 following the general election in May 2024, the overall executive remained large, with later additions in 2023 causing criticism. 

This was after he expanded his cabinet by adding two new ministerial portfolios to the Presidency - Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, led by Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa and Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, which is led by Maropene Ramokgopa. 

Following the 2024 general election and the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the cabinet again grew significantly, consisting of  32 ministers and 43 deputy ministers. 

This reportedly costs taxpayers an estimated R239 million to R670m annually in salary, support staff and related perks. The cost is expected to increase after Ramaphosa recently approved a 3,8% salary increase for ministers, deputy ministers and members of parliament, effective from April 1, this year.

In his SONA this month, there was no mention of the bloated cabinet or any indication that it will be reduced.

Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane has been a consistent critic of the size of the cabinet, advocating for a smaller and more efficient government to reduce wasteful expenditure.

The party said it was disappointing that eight years after Ramaphosa’s promise, a bloated cabinet, excessive ministerial perks, VIP security details and underperforming departments continue unchallenged. 

He said this is despite clear public opposition, adding that no reforms have been announced to right-size the executive or cut waste. 

Although Ramaphosa during SONA this year detailed several measures to cut wasteful government spending, such as phasing out underperforming programmes and removing “ghost workers” from the payroll, he was also expected to address the size of his cabinet, but did not despite ongoing public and political criticism. 

Asked whether there are intentions to address the issue, his spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, did not respond. 

Political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu said it does not make sense to have such a bloated cabinet, adding that this is a classic example of wasteful expenditure. 

“The US executive branch is much smaller than ours. The US cabinet consists of 15 secretaries plus seven other members of the cabinet. Mind you, our population is a quarter of the US population,” said Ndlovu, who added that the formation of the GNU was used as an excuse to expand the size of the cabinet, ” he said. 

Another political analyst, Professor Sipho Seepe, said Ramaphosa has had serious difficulty in keeping many of his promises and reducing the size of his cabinet is among those.

Meanwhile, ActionSA’s Alan Beesley said the recent approval of salary adjustments for ministers and deputy ministers was made despite persistent service delivery failures and economic hardship faced by millions of South Africans, further illustrating the GNU’s disconnect from the lived realities of ordinary citizens.

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