Mabuza finally exits after a flat tenure in government

One hundred and three speeches delivered, 12 delegations led and 36 appearances during parliament's questions and answer sessions.

This is the legacy former deputy president David Mabuza leaves behind after his departure from government was officially confirmed yesterday. 

Some of Mabuza's speeches include an address at the handover of restituted land to the Seoding and Ga-Mopedi communities in Kuruman, Northern Cape.  His most recent speech was the Christmas message he delivered last year.

Other speeches he delivered over the five years in office as the country's No 2 were on World Aids Day commemoration and oversight visits. He led ministerial committees on Covid-19 vaccines and on land reform and agriculture.

Mabuza, who chaired two cabinet committees, has been one of the most low-key deputy presidents in the history of the country's democracy.  According to the presidency website, he was delegated to chair the governance, state capacity and institutional development as well as justice, crime prevention and security since he took office in February 2018. He was also appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to lead a team overseeing Eskom's recovery from power crisis.

As deputy president of the country, Mabuza was also the leader of government business in parliament. 

Ramaphosa announced yesterday that Mabuza had resigned as an ANC MP. The move comes weeks after Mabuza asked Ramaphosa to relieve him of his duties as the deputy president.

Ramaphosa had asked Mabuza to delay his resignation while smoothing out the transition of his replacement which is anticipated to be current ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile.

The president lauded Mabuza and said he had undertaken the responsibilities of his office with dedication. “I am grateful for the support he has provided to me throughout his term and for the leadership he has provided to the work of government.

“His contribution has been valued by the many constituencies with which he has engaged, including traditional leaders, military veterans, civil society formations and international bodies. As leader of government business, he has ably managed the relationship between the executive and parliament, working to ensure that the transformative legislative programme of this administration is advanced,” Ramaphosa said.

Some political analysts said Mabuza's achievements left more question marks than notable achievements.

Mabuza, who was last year dubbed “the silent force behind political power plays” by an online publication, has served in government largely leading in low-key events.

Political analyst and lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Dr Fikile Vilakazi said Mabuza had been absent from the public domain, leaving citizens with question marks.

“Mabuza was always linked to issues of [alleged] corruption especially around issues of land and he’s never come out to publicly account and refute the kind of allegations ... which is not surprising as it's the culture of the ANC.

“Internally, you could see he’s playing politics that could be easily linked to those of Paul Mashatile, who move silently mobilising hoping people will vote for him but unfortunately [it] didn’t work,” Vilakazi said.

Political analyst Dr Ongama Mtimka said: “His biggest contribution to the country will always remain his game-changing and vote-changing move at the ANC's 54th national conference in Nasrec in 2017 to abort the RET (radical economic transformation) faction aligned with Jacob Zuma's dynasty,” Mtimka said.

University of Johannesburg lecturer Dr Theo Venter said: “How he became the country's deputy president meant politically, nobody trusted him, not his old friends or new alliance which is the difficulty of switching sides. It left him politically compromised.

“As a political analyst I can remember several speeches that have been delivered by the likes of former DA leader Mmusi Maimane, (DA's) John Steenhuisen, Thabo Mbeki ... but I can’t remember a single speech by Mabuza.

“The only one I remember was how he couldn’t distinguish between the 3rd and 4th industrial revolution in parliament. He should’ve played a much more significant role in parliament but I don’t think he’s a speaker but there’s also the lack of charisma. Essentially, we had a deputy president that was a backroom player. That’s where his strength was,” Venter said.