What appears to have fallen by the wayside in this debate is the impact the reshuffle has had on the line ministries affected, which have only just emerged from the chaos that traditionally surrounds the end of government’s financial year. For some of these ministries, the replacement of substantive and seasoned ministers with those in acting capacities is a blow for the political muscle needed to drive certain interventions. The Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture is a case in point. Prior to the reshuffle, then minister, Shaw Kgathi was spearheading a new ‘shared services’ structure under which all departments would be phased out and replaced with core functions such as policy development, research and others. Such a cataclysmic change in the sports ministry would, of necessity, require a continuation of sorts in the political leadership within that ministry. Kgathi understands the motivations for the new structure as well as its impact, and therefore is the perfect candidate to implement his ideas.
No doubt he has spent time sensitising ministry staff about the possible effects, gathering their input and presumably securing their buy-in.
