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Zuma Allies Get Top South African Posts in Setback for Ramaphosa

Zuma Allies Get Top South African Posts in Setback for Ramaphosa

(Bloomberg) -- Former South African President Jacob Zuma’s allies secured several top posts in the nation’s parliament in a blow to his successor Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to clean up the government and cement his control over the ruling African National Congress.

Secretary-General Ace Magashule, who announced the names on Wednesday in Cape Town, is a Zuma ally who oversees the day-to-day running of the ANC. He called the nominations a collective decision. Ramaphosa, who won control of the ANC in December 2017 by a razor-thin margin, still has a tenuous hold over the party because his allies failed to secure other key posts.

Zuma Allies Get Top South African Posts in Setback for Ramaphosa

With the ANC holding an outright majority in Parliament, the appointment of its picks is a formality.

Among those nominated are:

  • Zuma’s former transportation minister, Joe Maswanganyi, to chair the finance committee.
  • Ex-Deputy Finance Minister Sfiso Buthelezi to head the budget appropriations committee.
  • Faith Muthambi, an-ex communications minister who was proposed as chair of the co-operative governance committee.
  • Mosebenzi Zwane, a former mines minister, as head of the transportation committee.
  • Supra Mahumapelo, who quit as premier of the North West province last year after violent protests against his leadership, as chairman of the tourism committee.

Testimony given to a judicial panel that’s probing graft during Zuma’s rule has implicated Muthambi and Zwane in helping businessmen linked to the former president to loot billions of rand from state coffers -- allegations they all deny.

The main opposition party has laid criminal charges against Buthelezi in connection with his role in concluding irregular contracts while he was chairman of the nation’s commuter rail service. He denies any wrongdoing.

To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Vecchiatto in Cape Town at pvecchiatto@bloomberg.net;Mike Cohen in Cape Town at mcohen21@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, John Bowker

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