Trevor Manuel said on Tuesday that he was willing to serve in a Kaglema Mothlante cabinet if asked to do so. This seemed to immediately have a somewhat calming effect on markets.
The rather one-sided interim Presidential election was held on Thursday. The ANC Deputy President, Kaglema Mothlante won 269 of the 360 possible votes against the only other candidate, the DA’s chairman, Joe Seremane, who received 50 votes.
He seems to be very popular amongst his fellow MP’s, but it remains to be seen what sort of direction he will give to the cabinet which is yet to be selected. It will also be interesting to see which ministers who served in the Mbeki cabinet will be asked to stay on as this will surely have a big effect on the efficiency with which the country is governed up until the 2009 Presidential election.
