MALAIKA WA AZANIA

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A week ago, the recently elected federal leader of the DA, Geordin Hill-Lewis, submitted a request to President Cyril Ramaphosa to reshuffle the party’s executive positions in the government of national unity.

Hill-Lewis, who was elected just two months ago, moved some ministers and deputy ministers to different portfolios while removing others completely.

Among those who have been reshuffled are former party leader John Steenhuisen, who previously served as agriculture minister and has now been demoted to trade, industry and competition deputy minister.

Willie Aucamp, who served as the forestry, fisheries and environment minister, is now agriculture minister.

Returning to parliament from his role as Western Cape education MEC, David Maynier has taken over Aucamp’s previous portfolio.

Dr Mimmie Gondwe was removed from her role as higher education deputy minister and replaced by Yusuf Cassim, while Sello Seitlholo was removed as water and sanitation deputy minister and replaced by long-serving DA Gauteng MPL Jack Bloom.

Alexandra Abrahams, who served as the trade and industry deputy minister, is the new electricity and energy deputy minister, replacing Samantha Graham-Mare, who has been removed from the executive.

Analysts view this sudden overhaul as a move to distance the party from the previous administration’s policy blunders ahead of future electoral pressures.

Steenhuisen faced an intense, compounding backlash from agricultural unions and farmers who blamed his department for slow, overly centralised containment procedures that severely damaged SA’s livestock trade.

While his demotion is understandable, some changes have raised significant questions, particularly that of Gondwe, who, by all measures, did an excellent job in higher education.

During her stint, she established the Deputy Minister’s Help Desk, which successfully resolved more than 67,000 student queries related to NSFAS and diplomas, achieving a 91% resolution rate.

She was also instrumental in forging digital training partnerships with major tech and financial entities including Microsoft, Google, Old Mutual and Takealot.

She also took a firm stance against the registration and operation of bogus colleges while actively working to foster collaboration with legitimate private higher education providers.

She routinely led institutional readiness and matric support programmes, ensuring school leavers were guided through the transition into post-school education and funding options.

Gondwe’s successes in the portfolio make sense when you consider that she is a highly educated woman, holding four degrees, including a doctorate in Mercantile Law.

She brought legal and academic rigour to her oversight of SETAs and private universities.

Her replacement, Cassim, who made history in 2014 when he first entered parliament at the age of 24, becoming the youngest MP in South African history, has some background in higher education.

He served as the president of the Nelson Mandela University Student Representative Council (SRC) in 2012 and later became the federal leader of the DA Students Organisation (Daso).

In his first term as MP, he focused on higher education portfolios and youth development.

He also stepped in as the interim DA Youth leader during this period.

He later moved to provincial politics in the Eastern Cape, where he became an MPL, holding roles as the DA caucus leader, chief whip and provincial chair.

While his rise within the DA is notable, it does not in any way eclipse the significant roles that Gondwe has held within the party, having served as spokesperson in various portfolios and sitting on significant committees.

The fact that someone with Gondwe’s legislative experience and capacity was completely removed from the executive is questionable, especially at a time when the GNU is wrestling with policy differences that require the experience and skills of someone of Gondwe’s calibre.

This begs reflection on whether the DA will ever shed its image as a boys’ club that readily compromises black women in particular.