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\u201cI repeat,\u201d she added, \u201cthe politics being played here is about power and positions and absolutely nothing to do with people and policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Mr. Ramaphosa and the leader of the second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance, have insisted that the executive branch formed out of about a month of negotiations following the election in May will work together to set South Africa on the right path.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the ministers and deputy ministers who make up the national executive come from different parties, they will be expected to serve the people as a whole,\u201d Mr. Ramaphosa wrote on Monday in his weekly letter to the nation. \u201cThey will be expected to implement a shared mandate and a common program of action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Ramaphosa\u2019s cabinet was sealed after two weeks of tense negotiations between his party, the A.N.C., and the Democratic Alliance that included moments in which their partnership seemed on the verge of collapse.<\/p>\n
The A.N.C. won 40 percent of the vote in the election, while the Democratic Alliance got 22 percent. But the two parties clashed over how many ministerial posts the Democratic Alliance was supposed to get, per an agreement to work together that both sides had signed in mid-June. That agreement formed what they are calling a government of national unity that now includes 11 of the 18 parties in Parliament, participating in an A.N.C.-led governing coalition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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While the A.N.C. invited all parties in Parliament to join the unity government, the third largest party, uMkhonto weSizwe, led by former President Jacob Zuma, declined. With more than 14 percent of the vote, Mr. Zuma\u2019s party will lead an opposition coalition.<\/p>\n
In the end, the Democratic Alliance got six ministers and six deputy ministers. The Inkatha Freedom Party, the third largest in the coalition, got two ministers, while the Patriotic Alliance, Freedom Front Plus, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and GOOD parties got one each.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe D.A. was never in this for positions for their own sake,\u201d John Steenhuisen, the leader of the Democratic Alliance, said in an address on Monday. His party \u201crefused to accept watered-down compromises,\u201d he added, in order \u201cto ensure that the portfolios we get are of real substance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur commitment is to painstakingly rebuild the government institutions now under our custodianship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mr. Steenhuisen was given the role of agriculture minister. That ministry previously included land reform and rural development, but Mr. Ramaphosa made land reform a separate ministry and named the leader of the Pan Africanist Congress, Mzwanele Nyhontso, as minister.<\/p>\n
This sets up an interesting dynamic, as Mr. Nyhontso\u2019s party has, in its manifesto, strongly promoted \u201cthe restoration of land\u201d to Black people dispossessed through colonization. The Democratic Alliance has argued generally for increasing land ownership opportunities for South Africans, but not through the lens of racial justice.<\/p>\n
Increasing land ownership among Black South Africans \u2014 or land reform, as it is called \u2014 will likely take coordination between Mr. Steenhuisen\u2019s and Mr. Nyhontso\u2019s ministries. Once land is transferred, new owners often need financial support from the agricultural department so that they can farm effectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t move with speed on land reform, we may not be able to achieve the extra growth as well as inclusiveness on the agriculture side,\u201d said Wandile Sihlobo, a South African agricultural economist.<\/p>\n
Ms. Motimele of the University of the Free State said in an interview that while forming a cabinet was high stakes, the most critical moment for the country comes now in creating and enacting policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the moment,\u201d she said, \u201cin which social movements, civil society, ordinary South Africans can now get involved in shaping what takes place.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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