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ZUMA ANNOUNCES NEW STRUCTURE IN
GOVERNMENT
10 May 2009
 Pretoria - Newly inaugurated President Jacob
Zuma has already got down to the business of
work, and his first task was to announce his
new cabinet on Sunday.
The new cabinet, to serve for the next five
years, comprises old and new faces, and
compromises a "type of government structure
that would best serve our goals," said
President Zuma on Sunday.
He said the structure of Cabinet and
national departments had been re-organised
to achieve better alignment between the
structure, the party's electoral mandate as
per the African National Congress (ANC)
election Manifesto, and the developmental
challenges that need to receive immediate
attention from government.
The most notable change in the new structure
is the advent of the National Planning
Commission (NPC).
"Following extensive research on
international models on how governments in
other parts of the world plan and monitor
performance, we have decided to establish a
National Planning Commission which will be
based in the Presidency."
The NPC will be responsible for strategic
planning for the country to ensure one
National Plan to which all spheres of
government would adhere.
"This would enable us to take a more
comprehensive view of socio-economic
development in the country," said Mr Zuma.
The new structure will also see the creation
of a monitoring and evaluation competency in
the Presidency, to monitor and evaluate the
performance of government in all three
spheres.
"There will therefore be two Ministers in
the Presidency, one responsible for the NPC
and the other for Monitoring and Evaluation
as well as administration in the
Presidency," said Mr Zuma.
Outgoing Finance Minister Trevor Manuel will
head the NPC.
Other changes are the following:
The Department of Minerals and Energy will
be split into two separate departments of
Mining and of Energy, each with a Minister.
The Department of Education will be split
into separate Ministries, one for Basic
Education and the other for Higher Education
and Training.
The Department of Housing will be called the
Department of Human Settlements to take on a
more holistic focus.
There will be a new department of Rural
Development and Land Affairs, which are part
of key priorities for the next five years.
The Department of Water affairs and Forestry
becomes the Department of Water and
Environmental Affairs.
A new Department of Economic Development has
been established to focus on economic
policymaking. The implementation functions
will remain with the Department of Trade and
Industry.
A new department of Tourism has been
created.
Agriculture becomes Agriculture, Fisheries
and Forestry.
The Department of Provincial and Local
Government becomes Cooperative Governance
and Traditional Affairs.
A new Ministry has been created for Women,
Youth, Children and People with Disability,
to emphasise the need for equity and access
to development opportunities for the
vulnerable groups in our society
Delivering his inaugural speech on Saturday,
Mr Zuma was clear that delivery by his
administration would be a priority.
"We are now called upon to implement our
Manifesto. The dreams and hopes of all the
people of our country must be fulfilled.
There is no place for complacency, no place
for cynicism, no place for excuses.
Everything we do must contribute in a direct
and meaningful way to the improvement of the
lives of our people," he said. - BuaNews
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