Cabinet appointments: Crucial to get key economic portfolios right

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce his new Cabinet soon, following his inauguration at the Union Buildings on Wednesday.

Speculation is rife about which parties or even individuals will be appointed to head key economic portfolios, with the hope that South Africa's struggling economy can be reinvigorated.

Africa Melane (in for Bruce Whitfield) gets some input from Peter Attard Montalto, MD of consulting firm Krutham, and Lumkile Mondi, senior lecturer at Wits Business School.

While it's widely believed the ANC will retain Enoch Godongwana as finance minister, he said on Thursday he hasn’t yet received that phone call from the President about a possible re-appointment.

Steenhuisen negotiating for a seat at President Ramaphosa's table, suggest DA sources

Mondi notes how instrumental Godongwana has been during his tenure in terms of critical reforms, and in terms of working together with all relevant institutions.

"The SA Revenue Service has improved dramatically since Mr (Tom) Moyane left, at the Reserve Bank we saw Mr (Lesetja) Kganyago has been given an extension, more importantly also there is stability at the Public Investment Commission..."

Lumkile Mondi,Senior Lecturer - Wits Business School

He also cites important bills and acts that have been passed to try and move the country away from being greylisted.

Mondi and Attard Montalto both highlight Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) as a key department to get on the right track.

"That has been one of South Africa's weakest links... We're going to need the new minister completely outside the ANC, probably from the DA... who understands the business community, and can work very closely with Foreign Affairs to ensure that we sharpen our capabilities industrially... Business has been hamstrung by the previous minister from the ANC (Ebrahim Patel)."

Lumkile Mondi,Senior Lecturer - Wits Business School

Whichever party the new minister comes from, says Attard Montalto, it's all about mindset ultimately.

"For all the notional trumpeting of all the sector compacts they've locked out, particularly smaller business, they've actually reinforced the barriers to entry for the economy in many sectors."

"I think the DA will be looking very closely at the dtic; it's obviously an area where you could affect a lot of change. It's a very damaged ministry, where you can show a turnaround by doing a few things right and a few things differently."

Peter Attard Montalto, MD - Krutham

Montalto also argues that the Ministry of Small Business Development should be collapsed back into the DTIC, where he says all the key levers to small business ultimately lie.