Athol Trollip (Photo: Athol Trollip/Facebook)
What do deputy ministers ever do?
Deputy ministers’ role was debated in parliament on Thursday, after ActionSA tabled the 23rd constitutional bill in parliament.
Athol Trollip, ActionSA MP, calls for this bill to completely abolish deputy ministers and save taxpayers an estimated R1.5 billion annually.
The bill also asks that parliament may bring motions of no confidence against beleaguered ministers in cases where the president does not act quickly enough.
That bill is only one of three that ActionSA tabled on Thursday.
All six of ActionSA’s members of parliament have now submitted a bill to parliament — a first in South African parliamentary history, the party pointed out on Thursday.
Today is a milestone – ActionSA’s bills to scrap Deputy Ministers, protect election integrity, and empower whistleblowers have passed the first-reading debates in the National Assembly.https://t.co/Uv8k4CnEYk
A caucus of six is boxing like sixty.
— Michael Beaumont (@ME_Beaumont) May 7, 2026
The country currently has 43 deputy ministers. But what do they do? Trollip wanted to know from members of parliament on Thursday.
“In times of crisis when leadership is most needed, they cannot intervene, they cannot decide, they cannot lead. So we must ask ourselves honestly, what purpose do they serve?”
Trollip says the 23rd constitutional bill forms part of a bold cabinet reform package that abolishes the role of deputy ministers and strengthens parliamentary oversight of the executive.
The bill was read out for the first time in the department on Thursday and then debated.
The ANC and DA were opposed to doing away with deputy ministers.
However, the EFF and FF Plus were in favor of it.
The bill will now be debated again at a later stage.