South Africa’s cabinet versus the rest of the world

South Africa has one of the biggest national executives, with the 77-person composition significantly larger than many developed countries.

On 30 June 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his national executive after forming a government of national unity (GNU) comprising the ANC, DA and eight other political parties.

Ramaphosa added two ministers and seven deputy ministers to create the largest the country has ever had.

The executive consists of:

• One President;
• One Deputy President;
• 32 Ministers; and
• 43 Deputy Ministers.

It is the largest national executive that South Africa has ever had. The second-largest was ten years ago, under then-President Jacob Zuma, when there were 72 ministers and deputies.

The 43 Deputy Ministers are not cabinet members, and their functions are largely supportive of the cabinet. Yet, they receive a collective R95 million in taxpayer-funded salaries alone.

When a Minister has been unable to fulfill their duties or put on ‘special leave’ as is the case with suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu, deputies have not acted in their place.

Therefore, there are 34 members of South Africa’s actual Cabinet, with some analysts attributing the growing size to horse trading.

This is significantly larger than developed nations with a similar population.

Developed nations typically maintain smaller cabinets, often 15–25 ministers, to promote efficiency and limit fiscal burdens.

This aligns with research showing an inverse correlation: more developed economies tend toward leaner executives.

South Africa’s 32 ministers is notably larger, roughly double the size of some peers, despite its smaller population and GDP compared to giants like the US or Japan.

Country	Cabinet Size (Ministers)	Population (millions)	GDP (USD trillions)
South Africa	32	62	0.38
United States	26	339	27
United Kingdom	24	68	3.3
Japan	20	125	4.2
France	18	68	3.0
Germany	17	84	4.5

Calls to cut cabinet

The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) have called for a significant reduction in the number of Cabinet Ministers as important steps towards fixing South Africa’s weak state.

“The state’s capacity to develop policies and deliver public services and programmes has been undermined by systemic corruption, too many compromised party loyalists, inadequate skills at critical levels, and a lack of accountability for poor performance and wrongdoing,” said Ann Bernstein, executive director of CDE.

“At the same time, government has taken on more responsibilities, creating new government departments and public entities.”

“Adding extra layers of bureaucracy and parallel management structures has made it harder to take decisions and co-ordinate key actors to deliver on outcomes,” she added.

Ramaphosa recently defended the role of deputy ministers, saying they are vital to government operations, though he acknowledged that a leaner executive would be preferable.

Responding to criticism that deputy ministers are redundant and inflate the executive’s size, Ramaphosa said they “play a critical role” by working with ministers and senior officials to develop proposals before they reach cabinet.

Ramaphosa said that he too favours a smaller cabinet, but claims that the current size results from the GNU, to accommodate all parties.

He maintained that deputy ministers are “putting their shoulder to the wheel” despite the constraints of the arrangement.