David Mabuza To Participate In SONA As Deputy President

The Mail & Guardian reports that South Africa's Deputy President David Mabuza will be part of the programme of Thursday's State of the Nation Address (SONA) in his capacity as the country's second-in-command.

• Mabuza's spokesperson confirmed that he has accepted the invitation to participate in the event and noted that the comments he had made at his brother's funeral were "open to interpretation."
• In a leaked clip from the funeral, which took place over the weekend, Mabuza suggested that he was preparing to step down and make room for Paul Mashatile, who replaced him as the ruling ANC party's deputy leader, to take his government position.
• "There is still a meeting that the President and the Deputy President must have. The communication from the office of the Deputy President is that yes he has communicated an intent to resign, but if the President has not released him, he has not released him," Mabuza's spokesperson said.
• This suggests that President Cyril Ramaphosa might postpone the expected Cabinet reshuffle until after Thursday's SONA. The Mail & Guardian reports that Mashatile's allies are accusing some in Ramaphosa's camp of trying to persuade the leader to defy party tradition and refrain from appointing Mashatile.