South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, announced a number of high-profile cabinet changes yesterday, including a new finance minister, a new health minister, and a new communication and digital technology minister and deputy minister.
Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, the current communications minister, will be promoted to minister of small business development, according to Ramaphosa. Former deputy minister of communications Pinky Kekana has been appointed to second deputy minister in the president’s cabinet.
Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has been named Minister of Communications and Digital Technology, with Philly Mapulane as her deputy.
Ntshavheni served as the municipal manager of the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality in Limpopo from April 2008 until November 2010, making him the country’s youngest municipal manager at the time. She has also served as the Limpopo province’s tourism manager for trade and investment, as well as the province’s CIO for the department of local government and housing.
The new minister has an MBA from Bradford University in the United Kingdom, as well as two BA(Hons) degrees in development studies and labor relations from the University of Johannesburg.
According to her official profile, Ntshavheni has “significant job experience” in strategic management, IT, change management, and communication and marketing. According to the Presidency, she was a strong political activist throughout her childhood, and she pushed President Nelson Mandela to set the voting age for South Africa at 16 years during the CODESA negotiations.
Following the death of minister Jackson Mthembu earlier this year, Ntshavheni had been functioning as an interim minister in the presidency.
New Communications and Digital Technology Deputy Minister
Mapulane, the new deputy minister of communications, had previously chaired the Portfolio Committee on Environment Affairs. He was the municipal manager of the Madibeng local municipality in Brits, North West province, from 2007 until 2009.
From 2010 until 2014, he served as Treasurer of the ANC Provincial Executive Committee and MEC for the North West Provincial Legislature.
He has been a member of the South African Parliament since 2014.