ActionSA wants deputy ministers axed, plans to save billions
Andrew Whitfield's dismissal as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition has sparked major reactions. ActionSA has weighed in and called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove the remaining 42 deputy ministers from their posts.
ActionSA's Athol Trollip says the executive must be freed from incompetence, underperformance, and impropriety. He says Ramaphosa should implement bold reforms that deliver real accountability.
The party believes that Ramaphosa missed an opportunity to make decisive changes and steer the country in a new direction. He said the president failed to 'cut the dead wood' and remove those tainted by corruption and mismanagement.
The political party says it has introduced a bill to slash cabinet perks and rein in executive excess. The Enhanced Cut Cabinet Perks Bill is part of ActionSA's Cabinet Reform Package.
'[It] will soon see us table a Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament to abolish the position of Deputy Ministers altogether. Measures that together could conservatively save South Africans R1.5 billion a year,' said Trollip.
Trollip said Minister Thembi Simelane, Minister Khumbudzo Ntshaveni and Minister Nobuhle Nkabane should have been removed, but instead they remain firmly in place. He said the ActionSA believes that South Africans deserve leadership that serves them, not themselves.
'Ramaphosa's cabinet is not only one of the largest in the world but also deeply ineffective, with worsening socio-economic indicators reflecting a failure rooted in absent reforms,' added Trollip.
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