The African National Congress, ANC, has conceded 12 portfolios to other parties in the new coalition government of President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
Ramaphosa named 32 ministers on the night of Sunday, giving 20 portfolios to members of the ANC who usually had all the portfolios when the party had total control and leaving 12 to the other coalition parties in the government.
It is the first time that the ANC would be sharing cabinet offices with other parties since the beginning of post-apartheid democracy in 1994.
The new order became inevitable after the ANC lost its outright parliamentary majority in the May 29 general election and had to rely on some other parties, majorly the Democratic Alliance, DA, for the Parliament of South Africa to get President Ramaohosa re-elected.
The portfolio-sharing formula was arrived at during the weekend after weeks of intense negotiations among the coalescing parties.
The ANC, however, managed to keep key portfolios that include foreign affairs, finance, defence, justice and police.
The biggest coalition partner, the DA, had six portfolios, including home affairs, environment and public works; with the DA leader himself, John Steenhuisen, appointed Minister of Agriculture.
Announcing the new cabinet in a televised speech from Pretoria, President Ramaphosa said, “The incoming government will prioritize rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and a creation of a more just society by tackling poverty and inequality as well as unemployment.”