While re-elected Premier Alan Winde is opgemaak with his new Cabinet for the Western Cape government, the overall reaction from members of the opposition is one of disappointment.
After being sworn-in as premier on Thursday, Winde announced his provincial Cabinet, which included several familiar faces and three new ones.
The new MECs are Deidre Baartman (Finance), Isaac Sileku (Mobility) and Jaco Londt (Social Development).
The MECs who changed portfolios are Anroux Marais to Police Oversight and Community Safety (previously Cultural Affairs and Sport), Ricardo Mackenzie to Cultural Affairs and Sport (previously Mobility) and Mireille Wenger to Health and Wellness (previously Finance).
The unchanged are Tertuis Simmers as Infrastructure MEC, Anton Bredell as Local Government, Environmental Affairs, and Development Planning MEC, David Maynier as Education MEC and Dr Ivan Meyer as who has Economic Development and Tourism added to his Agriculture portfolio.
A noticeable omission is that of Dr Nomafrench Mbombo, who was still sworn in as a member of the provincial legislature (MPL).
Asked about her plans going forward, Mbombo said: “I am busy with a by-election in my ward due next week.
“I have ample time to think about it, [however] we are in constituency period till mid-July.”
Former Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez has retired, and former Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen has been elected as deputy speaker of the legislature. Daylin Mitchell was re-elected as Speaker.
Winde said: “I have worked with many of my fellow Cabinet members for years already and they bring a wealth of experience and institutional knowledge to the team.
“Given the tectonic shift in South Africa’s political landscape, we need to work extremely hard to maintain confidence and stability.
“But I also believe we need to include new faces to bring fresh ideas into our government so that we can continue to improve the way we govern with the both the present and future in mind.”
However, leader of the opposition, Khalid Sayed from the ANC, said Winde’s Cabinet illustrates a lack of seriousness in dealing with the challenges faced by the majority in the province “who are poor and working-class”.
Sayed says: “We also see that African women, who have been the most dispossessed and oppressed in our society, are excluded from this particular Cabinet, and this is wrong.”
GOOD party Secretary General, and newly sworn-in MPL Brett Herron, called out the appointments as “anti-transformation”.
Herron adds: “The appointments hold the DA’s anti-transformation line. The three positions of Premier, Speaker and Deputy Speaker were all men.
“Not only have they removed the only black woman from Cabinet, but Mbombo was literally the only Cabinet member professionally qualified in the role she was serving in.”
Cosatu's provincial secretary Malvern de Bruyn added that they aren’t excited by the appointments as they are the old-guard.
He says: “Education was a total failure and to repeat the same position of someone who never came to the party, when it came to the issues of the working class and the issues of the kids of the working class… we’re very disappointed.”