The Centre for Development and Enterprise, a think-tank, believes that a smaller Cabinet of 20 ministers would be 'more agile, more collegial, and more able to maintain a degree of collective oversight and collective responsibility'.

SA politicians, who are in the throes of negotiations to form a government of national unity, have been urged to consider shrinking the Cabinet to bolster public sector productivity and responsiveness.

The size of the Cabinet should be cut to about 20 ministers instead of the current 30, and the functions of the Presidency should also be overhauled to oversee the implementation of key reforms by government departments.

This recommendation has been proffered by the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) think-tank, in its series of reports Agenda 2024: Priorities for SA's New Government. The reports are aimed at making recommendations to transform the public sector and rebuild state capacity, which the CDE believes has been weakened over the past 15 years by systemic corruption and bad appointments to key positions.

Cutting the size of the Cabinet is the first step, with the CDE saying that "smaller Cabinets are more agile, more collegial, and more able to maintain a degree of collective oversight and collective responsibility".

"Smaller Cabinets are also likely to be more ideologically coherent and less prone to bouts of policy contestation. This is enormously important for reformers, particularly when large swathes of policy and government work need...