The Cabinet of South Africa is the most senior level of the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ...

of the

Government of South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authority ...

. It is made up of the President, the Deputy President, and the Ministers.

Overview

The President appoints the Deputy President and ministers; assigns their powers and functions, and may dismiss them. The President may select any number of ministers from the members of the National Assembly, and may select no more than two ministers from outside the assembly. As of 2021, Finance Minister

Enoch Godongwana Enoch Godongwana (born 9 June 1957) is a South African politician who has been serving as the Minister of Finance of South Africa in the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa since August 2021. He is also the former head of the African Nationa ...

and Trade and Industry Minister

Ebrahim Patel Ebrahim Patel (born 1962 in District Six in Cape Town) is a South African cabinet minister, who holds the position of Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition. He previously served as Minister of Economic Development from 2009 to 2019. ...

are the two cabinet ministers who are not members of the National Assembly. While Deputy Ministers are not members of the cabinet, they are required to assist relevant Ministers in the execution of their duties. A member of the Cabinet is appointed by the President to be the leader of government business in the National Assembly.

History

On 31 May 1910, former

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

military general and the former prime minister of the

Transvaal Colony The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...

Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer Wa ...

became the first Prime Minister of the newly established

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tr ...

—the forerunner of the modern South African state. He appointed the first cabinet of the Union of South Africa after the general election held on 15 September 1910. It consisted of members of the now-defunct South African Party. For the next fourteen years, it only consisted of members of the SAP. Botha died in 1919 and was replaced with another Boer general and SAP member,

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...

. In 1924, J. B. M. Hertzog of the National Party became prime minister through a coalition with the Labour Party and appointed a cabinet that consisted of National Party and Labour Party members. In 1934, the Hertzog's National Party and the South African Party merged to form the United Party. Hertzog won the 1938 general election, but in 1939 the United Party was divided between supporters of Hertzog and those of his Justice Minister Jan Smuts because of the question of South Africa's role in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Hertzog was voted out in the United Party and resigned as prime minister, which allowed Jan Smuts to form a

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

in coalition with the

Dominion Party The Dominion Party was a political party in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, led by Winston Field. History The party was established in 1956 by a merger of several political groups and the remains of the Confederate Party, which had di ...

and the Labour Party. The 1948 general election was won outright by

D. F. Malan Daniël François Malan (; 22 May 1874 – 7 February 1959) was a South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party implemented the system of apartheid, which enforce ...

's Herenigde Nasionale Party and Malan appointed his first cabinet composed of National Party members. For the next forty-six years, South Africa would be governed by the National Party. On 31 May 1961, South Africa became a republic and

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

was replaced as head of state with a

state president The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...

with largely ceremonial powers. The Prime Minister was still head of government and appointed/dismissed members of the cabinet. In 1984, the constitution was amended and the office of prime minister was abolished while the office of state president was given more responsibilities. State president P. W. Botha was now the head of state and head of government. In the 1984 tricameral parliamentary elections, Allan Hendrickse's Labour Party won a majority of seats in the coloured

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, while

Amichand Rajbansi Amichand Rajbansi (14 January 1942 – 29 December 2011) was a South African politician. He was a former Chairman of the Ministers' Council of the House of Delegates Tricameral parliamentary chamber for Indian people, and leader of the Minorit ...

's National People's Party won a plurality of seats in the Indian House of Delegates. Hendrickse and Rajbansi were appointed to serve in Botha's second cabinet as Minister of Coloureds' Affairs and Minister of Indian Affairs, respectively, becoming the first non-white members of the South African cabinet. In 1989,

Rina Venter Elizabeth Venter (born 9 December 1938), known as Rina Venter, was the Minister of National Health and Population Development of South Africa, from 1989 to 1994. Venter graduated from Pretoria University and was a social worker for 20 years. ...

became the first woman to hold a cabinet post in South African history. Following the end of apartheid and the first multi-racial elections in 1994,

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

became the first black

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nat ...

and appointed a Government of National Unity consisting of

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

, National Party, and

Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founde ...

members. In 1996, the National Party withdrew from the GNU and the cabinet's composition has been dominated by ANC members since then. The Inkatha Freedom Party continued to hold seats in the government, as minority partners, until the elections of 2004. In 2014,

Lynne Brown Lynne Brown (born 26 September 1961) is a South African politician who is a former Minister of Public Enterprises and former Premier of the Western Cape Province. She was born in Cape Town and grew up in Mitchells Plain. She was appointed Pre ...

became the first openly

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

person to serve as a cabinet minister in South Africa and Africa. In 2019, president

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...

appointed the first gender-balanced cabinet in South African history.

Members of the current cabinet

was appointed as President of South Africa by parliament on 15 February 2018. On 26 February, he announced a major Cabinet reshuffle, including the appointment of David Mabuza as Deputy President. The President announced a cabinet reshuffle on 22 November 2018, following the death of Minister Edna Molewa and the resignation of

Malusi Gigaba Knowledge Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba (born 30 August 1971) is a South African politician who served as Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of South Africa appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa from 27 February 2018 until his resignation on 13 ...

. On 29 May 2019, following the 2019 general election, President Ramaphosa announced a new cabinet in which the number of ministers was reduced from 36 to 28. On 5 August 2021,

announced another major Cabinet Reshuffle following the resignation of Minister Zweli Mkhize and Minister Tito Mboweni. The reshuffle also comes after the death of Minister Jackson Mthembu and deputy minister Bavilile Hlongwa.

Deputy Ministers

Deputy ministers are appointed by the President of South Africa. They are not members of the cabinet. They assist cabinet ministers in the execution of their duties. As of September 2021, these are the deputy ministers of South Africa.

Former ministerial portfolios

The president may restructure cabinet at his discretion, meaning that ministerial portfolios may be changed or dissolved. Defunct ministerial portfolios include:

Lists of cabinets since 1910

References

{{Africa topic, Cabinet of , title=National cabinets of Africa Cabinets of South Africa Executive branch of the government of South Africa Government of South Africa

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...