Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied centralising power in his office and setting up a parallel structure in the Presidency.
This comes after opposition parties criticised Ramaphosa for taking some of the powers of his ministers by appointing advisers and task teams in his office to do the same job his ministers do. They said this was a vote of no confidence in his ministers.
But Ramaphosa said this was not true. He said the Presidency was working with other departments on a number of programmes.
There were no parallel structures as had been suggested, he said.
He said that through the Presidential Stimulus Programme they had been able to help many people in different sectors of the economy.
“It is worth noting that this programme is being co-ordinated from the Presidency, bringing together 14 departments to implement the largest and fastest expansion of public employment in our country’s history.
“This is not the work of a bloated Presidency. It is not a parallel state. This is a Presidency at work to drive a coherent and effective programme of action across government.
“This is a government elected by the people, for the people and which carries the trust of the people. This is a government that remains united around a common goal and programme of action and that will not be deflected from its course.
“I preside over a Cabinet of ministers that are committed to their responsibilities, ministers in whom I have the greatest of confidence, and from whom the people of this country have the highest expectations,” said Ramaphosa.
Political Bureau
