Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has not made it back into Parliament -- so will President Cyril Ramaphosa expend precious political capital to keep her in the job?

She has been widely rumoured to want to retire for some time. But Naledi Pandor is in reality keen to remain minister of international relations and cooperation, insiders say. However, the decision of the ANC's ranks in the elections removed her from Parliament, making her continued presence in the Cabinet tenuous.

Ever since her candidature to the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) was mysteriously submitted late and so she didn't win re-election to the body in November 2022, there has been growing speculation that either Pandor wanted out of the Cabinet and out of politics, or someone wanted her out.

But insiders tell Daily Maverick she is still "very keen" to continue in the job, even if her chances of retaining it shrank dramatically on 29 May.

When the ANC's list for Parliament came out before the 29 May elections, Pandor was only at spot 86. That meant the ANC would have needed to win around 46% of the national vote for her to remain an MP. It only won just over 40%. So her parliamentary seat disappeared from under her.

Now she has become dependent upon the goodwill of President Cyril Ramaphosa to keep her job as he may...