Today’s proceedings in the National Assembly, saw Ramaphosa tasked with the difficult task addressing the country’s economic and crime concerns. The report back to Parliament saw opposition parties afforded the opportunity to ask the President questions.

When speaking on the grey listing of South Africa, Ramaphosa expressed that it was a matter of great concern, adding that National Treasury  hard at work in removing  the country from the FATF grey list.

The issue of crime did not go unmentioned, with the leaders of both the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) having raised their concerns on the matter.

DA leader John Steenhuisen expressed his party’s concern on the increased murder rate over the years and called Ramaphosa out for not fulfilling his promise to promote community policing.

Meanwhile, leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, has criticised Ramaphosa for maintaining the Minister of Police,  Bheki Cele, as part of his cabinet.

With the introduction of the new position of Minister of Electricity, the question of whether Ramaphosa would dissolve the Department of Public Enterprises and have all State-Owned Enterprises placed in their line-function departments was posed to the President.

In response, Ramaphosa emphasised the size of the Department, detailing over 100 SOEs that need to be catered for.

The Presidential SOE Council is in the midst of an in-depth exercise to establish the strategic and developmental role of each SOE, their financial position and operational capabilities. As part of this work, the Council will make recommendations on which SOCs could be placed in the proposed holding company.

“As I said in the State of the Nation Address, the Presidency and National Treasury will work together to rationalise government departments, entities and programmes over the next three years…which will review the role of all departments, including the Department of Public Enterprises – will inform the configuration of government going into the next administration.” -President Ramaphosa