The third cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa, also known as the Government of National Unity (GNU), is the incumbent cabinet of the Government of South Africa. It was appointed on 30 June 2024 after the May 2024 general election resulted in a hung parliament. Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC), having lost its absolute majority, formed a ten-member coalition government.
The coalition was formed on 14 June 2024, when the Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party, and Patriotic Alliance joined the ANC in supporting Ramaphosa's election to a second full term as President of South Africa. All four original members of the coalition are represented in the cabinet, as are three later entrants, the Good Party, Pan Africanist Congress, and Freedom Front Plus. The United Democratic Movement and Al Jama-ah are represented by deputy ministers, and Rise Mzansi participates in the legislative coalition but is not represented in the national executive.
The government operates with a comfortable majority in the National Assembly. It is the first coalition government in South Africa since the constitutionally mandated post-apartheid Government of National Unity, and it marks the first time that the ANC has had to govern without an absolute majority in its own right.
Background
A South African general election was held on 29 May 2024 to elect the 28th Parliament of South Africa. Support for the incumbent governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), significantly declined in the election; the ANC remained the largest party but lost its majority in the National Assembly for the first time since the inaugural post-apartheid election in 1994. The centrist Democratic Alliance (DA) remained in second place with a slight increase. uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), a left-wing populist party founded six months prior to the election and led by former president Jacob Zuma, came in third place.
On 14 June 2024, the ANC, DA, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and Patriotic Alliance (PA) agreed to form a coalition government, which they labelled a "Government of National Unity" (GNU). They re-elected the ANC's Cyril Ramaphosa as President of South Africa. Ramaphosa was inaugurated for a second term on 19 June.
Meanwhile, the coalition ballooned to include a total of ten political parties. Good joined shortly after the first sitting of Parliament, followed by the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) on 19 June and the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) on 20 June. The United Democratic Movement (UDM) announced its entrance on 21 June, Rise Mzansi (RISE) on 22 June, and Al Jama-ah on 23 June. United Africans Transformation (UAT) was briefly an eleventh member, joining on 24 June but leaving after it was excluded from the cabinet on 30 June.
History
In July 2026, it was reported that the number of private member's bills (those submitted directly by a Member of Parliament who is not part of the Cabinet) had significantly increased since the formation of the GNU. In the previous term of government, around 13% of all bills before Parliament were PMBs. During Ramaphosa's third cabinet - a coalition, that had risen to around 40%. Around half of all PMBs introduced came from members of the Democratic Alliance. In July 2026, there was a total of 48 bills before Parliament, 19 of which were PMBs. Those 19 bills constituted almost a third of all PMBs ever submitted to Parliament in post-democracy South Africa. Six of those bills proposed Constitutional amendments.
Cabinet formation and reshuffles President Ramaphosa announced his third cabinet on 30 June 2024. The Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, was sworn in on 3 July alongside the new ministers and deputy ministers.
On 3 December 2024, President Ramaphosa announced his first reshuffle of the cabinet, affecting four ministries: ministers Mmamoloko Kubayi and Thembi Simelane swapped portfolios and deputy ministers Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala and Phumzile Mgcina likewise swapped portfolios.
Ramaphosa dismissed Democratic Alliance Member of Parliament Andrew Whitfield as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition on 25 June 2025 after the latter undertook an international visit without receiving the necessary permission from the president. This causes a dispute with the DA.
On 21 July 2025, Ramaphosa removed Dr Nobuhle Nkabane as Minister of Higher Education and Training and replaced her with the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela, who was in turn succeeded by Nomusa Dube-Ncube as Deputy Minister.
On 12 November 2025, Ramaphosa announced another reshuffle of his executive, this time to remove Dion George as the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and replace him with Willie Aucamp. Alexandra Abrahams was also appointed to fill the position of Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, which was left vacant after Ramaphosa fired Andrew Whitfield in June.
On 14 May 2026, Ramaphosa removed Sisisi Tolashe as Minister of Social Development, and has appointed the Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga as acting minister until a successor is chosen.
On 30 June 2026, Ramaphosa announced changes to the DA's representation in the national executive. Willie Aucamp was appointed Minister of Agriculture, David Maynier as Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, John Steenhuisen as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Alexandra Abrahams as Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, Jack Bloom as Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, and Yusuf Cassim as Deputy Minister of Higher Education.
To fill the vacant Ministry of Social Development, Ramaphosa appointed Dina Pule as Minister of Social Development.
Ministers Party legend
Post Minister TermWhere incumbents first took office in the same portfolio before the swearing-in of the current cabinet, the earliest date is used, reflecting practical continuity. However, these terms are not legally continuous. The table considers a previous term only if the portfolio name matches exactly with that in the immediately preceding period. Party President of South AfricaHis Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa 2018 – ANC Deputy President of South Africa His Excellency Paul Mashatile 2023 – ANCMinister in the Presidency The Hon. Khumbudzo Ntshavheni MP 2023 – ANCMinister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities The Hon. Sindisiwe Chikunga MP 2024 – ANC Minister of Agriculture The Hon. Willie Aucamp MP 2026 – DAThe Hon. John Steenhuisen MP20242026DA Minister of Basic Education The Hon. Siviwe Gwarube MP 2024 –DAMinister of Communications and Digital Technologies The Hon. Solly Malatsi MP 2024 – DAMinister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional AffairsThe Hon. Velenkosini Hlabisa MP 2024 – IFP Minister of Correctional Services The Hon. Pieter Groenewald MP 2024 – FF+Minister of Defence and Military VeteransThe Hon. Angie Motshekga MP 2024 – ANC Minister of Electricity and Energy The Hon. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa MP 2024 – ANC Minister of Employment and LabourThe Hon. Nomakhosazana Meth MP 2024 – ANC Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the EnvironmentThe Hon. David Maynier MPP 2026 – DAThe Hon. Willie Aucamp MP20252026DA The Hon. Dion George MP 20242025 DAMinister of FinanceThe Hon. Enoch Godongwana MP2021 – ANCMinister of HealthThe Hon. Aaron Motsoaledi MP 2024 – ANC Minister of Higher EducationThe Hon. Buti Manamela MP 2025 – ANC The Hon. Nobuhle Nkabane MP 2024 2025 ANC Minister of Home Affairs The Hon. Leon Schreiber MP 2024 – DA Minister of Human SettlementsThe Hon. Thembi Simelane MP 2024 – ANCThe Hon. Mmamoloko Kubayi MP 2021 2024 ANC Minister of International Relations and CooperationThe Hon. Ronald Lamola MP 2024 – ANC Minister of Justice and Constitutional DevelopmentThe Hon. Mmamoloko Kubayi MP 2024 – ANCThe Hon. Thembi Simelane MP 2024 2024 ANC Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development The Hon. Mzwanele Nyhontso MP 2024 – PAC Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources The Hon. Gwede Mantashe MP 2024 – ANC Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation The Hon. Maropene Ramokgopa MP 2023 – ANC Minister of Police The Hon. Senzo Mchunu MP 2024 – ANCMinister of Public Service and Administration The Hon. Mzamo Buthelezi MP 2024 – IFPMinister of Public Works and Infrastructure The Hon. Dean Macpherson MP 2024 – DA Minister of Science, Technology and InnovationThe Hon. Blade Nzimande MP 2024 – ANCMinister of Small Business DevelopmentThe Hon. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams MP 2021 – ANCMinister of Social DevelopmentThe Hon. Dina Pule MP 2026 –ANCThe Hon. Sindisiwe Chikunga MP (Acting)20262026ANC The Hon. Sisisi Tolashe MP 2024 2026ANCMinister of Sports, Arts and CultureThe Hon. Gayton McKenzie MP 2024 – PAMinister of TourismThe Hon. Patricia de Lille MP 2023 –GOOD Minister of Trade, Industry and CompetitionThe Hon. Parks Tau MP 2024 – ANCMinister of TransportThe Hon. Barbara Creecy MP 2024 – ANC Minister of Water and SanitationThe Hon. Pemmy Majodina MP 2024 – ANC
Deputy ministers