Zuma reshuffles cabinet, fires critic

South African President Jacob Zuma sacked a vocal critic from his cabinet, a move expected to further deepen tensions as an elective conference to the ruling ANC draws near.

In his second reshuffle this year, Zuma dropped Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, a member of the South African Communist Party, which is a key political ally of the ruling ANC.

Zuma also moved State Security Minister David Mahlobo to the energy portfolio, the president’s office announced, reviving debate over controversial and costly plans for nuclear energy. Nzimande has in recent months been incessantly vocal in calling for Zuma to go.

“The ANC is being stolen in broad daylight,” Nzimande told an anti-graft strike last month which urged Zuma to quit over a series of corruption scandals. The SACP and the country’s largest trade union, COSATU, are long-term political allies with Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC) party.

UCJ, UNILORIN.