FW de Klerk Foundation, news24 and this mail and guardian Assessing cabinet performance. All three systems are statistically well correlated and cabinet performance has improved since 2020, with the average cabinet performance score from 5.21 to 5.5-5.8 in 2025. However, these encouraging reforms coincide with the formation of a Government of National Unity (GNU) in 2024 and 2025.
Fifteen cabinet members at GNU are performing poorly, scoring below average or receiving a D grade or below. This number is too important to ignore. Sadly, 14 (FW de Klerk Foundation) or 15 (M&G) Cabinet ministers continue to perform below average. Of these poorly performing ministers, about 13 (87%) belong to the ANC. ANC ministerial poor performance continues from 2020, 17 in 2020 vs 13 in 2025.
The cabinet in 2020 was exclusively ANC. in both M&G And in the FW de Klerk assessment system, no member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) or the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) was found to perform poorly.
Despite being flawed, incomplete, or complex, these three evaluation systems are not without value. They are an essential measure to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our leadership.
In 2025, the FW de Klerk Foundation for the first time evaluated the national executive: the President, Vice-President, Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers. Against of M&G The Cabinet Score Card provides both FW de Klerk Foundation grades and actual numerical scores. In contrast, its national executive evaluation is biased towards impartiality M&G And news24 Evaluations, which are biased towards subjectivity.
The FW de Klerk Foundation's evaluation is independent, non-partisan, merit-based, outcomes-driven, evidence-based on verifiable data and peer-reviewed. In this, each official was evaluated on the basis of five dimensions taken directly from the Constitution:
• Leadership and vision;
• Execution and impact;
• Integrity and accountability;
• Utilization of public resources with section 195 as the benchmark; And
• Advancement of constitutional rights.
As a new system of evaluation, the FW de Klerk Foundation adds already established values and a different approach M&G And news24 System. news24 No assessment was provided for the Cabinet in 2025. For comparison in this essay, I focus on cabinet scores, excluding the scores of deputy ministers.
mail and guardian has conducted and published the Cabinet Report Card, popularly known as the Cabinet Score, since 1994 during the first Government of National Unity led by President Nelson Mandela. Over time, these reports have improved and matured, becoming popular and one of the ways South Africans assess the performance and quality of their cabinet. M&G The Cabinet Score Card assesses the performance of ministers:
• policy implementation;
• service delivery;
• Budget execution; And
• Handling national issues.
It is a respected but subjective measure of accountability, focusing on concrete results and adherence to mandates rather than mere politics. Despite the shortcomings, there are many lessons to be learned from these report cards.
Successive ANC governments have promised lifestyle audits and cabinet performance contracts but these have yet to materialise. It is common knowledge that many politicians and the public read these reports and form opinions. Cabinet members who score well appreciate these reports but those who score poorly often criticize the methodology. Yet, annual Cabinet score cards have become a reality of our political life.
Result
Average performance of the cabinet, since 2020 M&G The Cabinet Score Card has increased from 5.2 in 2020 to 5.912 in 2024 and 5.5 in 2025. The last two values correspond to the GNU setup. In 2020, the cabinet was composed exclusively of ANC members. In this assessment, 56.7% of the members or 17 cabinet members performed below the average of 5.2.
In 2025, the average cabinet score of M&G The rating increased to 5.51 after the formation of GNU by a coalition of ten parties. In M&G Assessment, 15 cabinet members or 46% performed below the average of 5.51.
In 2025, the FW de Klerk Foundation found the average cabinet performance to be 5.85. The correlation between the two systems was considered to be statistically moderate, allowing comparison. Intraclass correlation indicated good agreement, meaning that numerical scores are similar between the two systems.
The FW de Klerk Foundation found 14 cabinet members performing poorly. In M&G According to the assessment, 15 cabinet ministers were performing below average. In M&G According to the assessment, 13 of the worst performing cabinet ministers were from the ANC. In the FW de Klerk Foundation, the 12 worst-performing cabinet members were from the ANC. Poorly performing ministers match each other quite well across the two evaluation systems.
In 2020, the cabinet was exclusively ANC and 17 cabinet members performed poorly. Now in 2025, there are 14 or 15 cabinet ministers performing poorly, 12 or 13 of whom are ANC members. Over a period of approximately five years, 12 ANC cabinet ministers have consistently performed poorly as assessed by these methods. There is no consequence management for these underperforming ministers.
It is important for the President to address this poor performance within GNU. The President and the ANC, as part of their renewal programme, must ask deep questions of their staff. Questions include: Why does it field so many poorly performing cabinet ministers for so long? Is it a question of poor qualifications, incompetence or fitting square pegs in round holes? What impact has the group of ministers made on taxpayers during this period? What is the ANC going to do in the future regarding accountability and consequence management for these underperforming ministers?
I am grateful to Dr. Nombuso Zondo (NWU) and Dr. Mohanad Mohammed (UKZN) for statistical analysis.
Professor Malegapuru Makgoba is a former Health Ombudsman and Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission.