Zwane vulnerable in Ramaphosa’s planned cabinet reshuffle

Former SA mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane Pic: Martin Rhodes

MOSEBENZI Zwane was among the current South African ministers most vulnerable of removal following the appointment of Cyril Ramaphosa as president of the country – a position he took from Jacob Zuma earlier this week

BusinessLive said today Ramaphosa was likely to move swiftly on a cabinet reshuffle in an attempt to restore South Africa’s economic prospects and move its government from allegations of corruption and graft. Zwane, South Africa’s mines minister, was identified along with Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, Co-operative Governance Minister van Rooyen and the Energy Minister David Mahlobo as likely targets of a reshuffle.

Zwane was surprisingly appointed in 2016 having previously been MEC of agriculture in the Free State province. He was later connected with allegations of corruption relating to the Estina dairy – now the subject of an investigation by the Hawks, a special investigations unit, as well as the purchase of the Optimum Coal colliery by Tegata Exploration, a firm in which the Gupta family were the main shareholders.

In June 2017, he published details of a redraft of the Mining Charter which outraged the Chamber of Mines as it introduced regulations it had not seen before. Previous iterations of the Mining Charter had always been the subject of negotiation involving unions, the industry and government.