---

Premier Mandla Ndlovu misinterpreted the guidelines when he appointed his cabinet of five males and four females.

---

Sizwe sama Yende

---

Mpumalanga premier, Mandla Ndlovu, is facing an unenviable task to reshuffle his cabinet entirely or replace one male with a female barely three months in his first term as premier.

Like all premiers, Ndlovu appointed his cabinet in June, but he must now ring the change to comply with the ANC’s directive on gender parity.

Ndlovu’s cabinet comprises five males and four females, and according to the ANC’s directive, it should be the other way round, to accommodate more women in positions of authority.

Ndlovu’s headache is who he should remove among the five male MECs – namely – Speedy Mashilo (Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs), Thulasizwe Thomo (Public Works, Roads and Transport), Fidel Mlombo (Culture, Sport and Recreation), Bonakele Majuba (Finance) and Jacky Macie (Community Liaison, Safety and Security).

Before targeting anyone, he may have to consider various factors such as seniority in the ANC. Ndlovu will also need to balance the representation of the tripartite alliance and the youth league – a matter that always tops the agenda whenever deployment time comes.

Should he prefer this line of thinking, it means that Mashilo who is also the provincial ANC deputy chairperson is safe from the axe. Other cabinet members on the safe side are Thomo (provincial ANCYL chairperson), Bonakele Majuba (provincial SACP chairperson) and Mlombo (former Cosatu secretary).

Macie is Ehlanzeni regional chairperson and the only regional chairperson in cabinet. While it may seem easy to conclude that he may be removed without causing any ruckus, that remains easier said than done.

Macie is one of Ndlovu’s biggest allies and leads a region that is the premier’s stronghold.

Mpumalanga ANC secretary, Muzi Chirwa, said that Ndlovu has informed the ANC that he was ready to institute the 60% woman and 40% male cabinet.

Chirwa said the MEC who would suffer the consequences of this oversight of ANC guidelines would be deployed to another position.

“The premier has indicated that he is ready to redeploy. There is nothing wrong that the person would have done. We’re sorry for anyone that will be affected by this,” he said.

An insider said that there was a push from South African National Civic Organisation that the new MEC should be chosen from its leaders as they were not represented in the current cabinet.

The four women MECs in Ndlovu’s cabinet are Cathy Dlamini (Education), Sasekani Manzini (Health), Nompumelelo Hlophe (Agriculture, Rural Development, Land Reform and Environment) and Brenda Moeketsi (Social Development).