#GAReads | South Africa gets gender-balanced cabinet
The new Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, with the Obamas in 2014. Photo credit: Office of the White House (Amanda Lucidon) [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
“South Africa gets gender-balanced cabinet”:
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a new cabinet in which, for the first time in the country's history, half of all ministers are women.
In another unexpected move, one of the women is from the opposition.
He appointed veteran opposition politician Patricia de Lille, who had stood for the Good Party, as minister of infrastructure development.
The African National Congress party won a general election on 8 May.
South African journalist Verashni Pillay told BBC Newsday that the move to have half of all cabinet posts occupied by women was a "surprise". But it shows that the head of state is "astute", she said.