Mybroadband reports this is according to reports in the City Press and the Sunday Times, which said these are measures to cut the public wage bill and make the government run more efficiently.

The City Press reported that Ramaphosa is planning to collapse a number of departments and form a “powerful economic department”.

This economic department is set to be formed by a “merger of the departments of small business, trade and industry, tourism, and economic development”.

The president will “dramatically cut the 34-member cabinet after the elections”, which, according to the Sunday Times, should be made up of only 25 ministers and 15 deputy ministers.

“This will reduce the size of the executive he inherited from Jacob Zuma from 72 to 40,” the Sunday Times said.

The ANC’s plan to reduce the number of provinces – a decision which was taken at the party’s conference in Mangaung – is also back on the table.

In February 2016, DA leader Mmusi Maimane detailed the party’s vision to streamline the national government to 15 cabinet ministries, thereby saving R4.6 billion annually.

South Africa’s cabinet has moved from 16 ministries in 1996 to one of 35 – plus an additional 37 deputy ministers.

Mybroadband