Pretoria - After two weeks of speculation on who President Cyril Ramaphosa would choose to head up his government and help him steer South Africa toward the new dawn he promised during his inauguration speech on Saturday, Ramaphosa is about to announce his Cabinet.
Earlier on Wednesday the presidency said the announcement will be made at 8pm at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
The announcement was expected shortly after Ramaphosa's inauguration on Saturday, but was prevented by the fact that deputy president David Mabuza had delayed his swearing-in as a member of the National Assembly so his could clear his name before the ruling African National Congress Integrity Commission.
Mabuza was sworn in as an MP late on Tuesday afternoon, paving the way for his possible reappointment as deputy president. It also cleared the way for Ramaphosa to announce his new cabinet.
In the meantime, all eyes are on Ramaphosa to see if he makes good on his promise to reduce the number of ministries and rid government of scandal-tainted office bearers.
The fate of former Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan is also of great interest to the public.
He was appointed finance minister after Nhlanhla Nene was fired by former president Jacob Zuma in a midnight reshuffle in December 2015 and replaced by Des van Rooyen. Nene's axing caused panic in international markets and sent the rand into a tailspin.
Three days later, on December 13, Zuma was forced to do an about-turn and fire van Rooyen.
Gordhan on Tuesday filed court papers seeking to have Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's report and her adverse findings against him in respect of the early retirement granted to former Sars boss Ivan Pillay set aside.
Gordhan contends that the protector's report is riddled with misrepresentations.
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