Second Cabinet of Jacob Zuma

The second cabinet of Jacob Zuma was the cabinet of the government of South Africa between 25 May 2014 and 14 February 2018. It was formed by Zuma after his re-election in the 2014 general election, and it served until Zuma resigned as President of South Africa on 14 February 2018. Comprising 35 ministers, the cabinet changed in composition on several occasions between 2015 and 2017, most notably in a major cabinet reshuffle in March 2017.

Appointment
On 24 May 2014, President Jacob Zuma was inaugurated as the President of South Africa following the victory of his African National Congress (ANC) in that month's general election. He announced his second-term cabinet on 25 May. Although many of the ministers had served in his first-term cabinet, most were moved to new portfolios. Zuma also announced several changes to the structure of the cabinet:


 * The Ministry of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities was turned into the Ministry in the Presidency for Women, located in the Presidency and responsible for a narrower portfolio (responsibility for children and people with disabilities having been transferred to the Ministry of Social Development);
 * The communications portfolio was expanded and divided between the Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services;
 * The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development was merged with the Ministry of Correctional Services to create the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services;
 * The Ministry of Water and Sanitation was established;
 * The Ministry of Small Business Development was established; and
 * A single Minister in the Presidency was appointed with responsibility both for the National Planning Commission and for performance monitoring and evaluation.

The cabinet comprised 35 ministers, and Zuma also appointed 36 deputy ministers. 20 of the ministers and 16 of the deputy ministers were women.

Reshuffles
Zuma announced his first, minor reshuffle in the early hours of 23 September 2015. He shifted Ngoako Ramatlhodi to the position of Minister of Public Service and Administration, which had been vacated by Minister Collins Chabane's death in March; Mosebenzi Zwane was in turn appointed to Ramatlhodi's former position as Minister of Mineral Resources.

On 9 December 2015, Zuma sacked Nhlanhla Nene as Minister of Finance and replaced him with the little-known backbencher Des van Rooyen. After an extremely negative response from the markets and from segments of the ANC, Zuma reversed his decision and announced on 13 December that Pravin Gordhan would replace van Rooyen after only four days in office; van Rooyen in turn took Gordhan's place as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

In the early hours of 31 March 2017, Zuma announced a major cabinet reshuffle, affecting ten ministers – five of whom were dismissed – and ten deputy ministers. Most notably, Gordhan was replaced as Finance Minister by Malusi Gigaba. Senior ANC leaders, including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, severely criticised the reshuffle. The so-called #ZumaMustFall protests the following week voiced public opposition to the changes.

Zuma's last reshuffle, his 12th over two terms in office, was announced on 17 October 2017 and affected five ministers and one deputy minister. It was most notable for the dismissal of Minister Blade Nzimande, which invited a fierce response from Nzimande's South African Communist Party.

List of deputy ministers
Although deputy ministers are not members of the cabinet, they are appointed by the president and assist cabinet ministers in the execution of their duties. During the term of Zuma's second cabinet, they were, like the cabinet, appointed on 25 May 2014, with the exception of Deputy Minister Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, the leader of the National Freedom Party, whose appointment was announced on 5 June 2014. Deputy ministers were affected by the reshuffles of March 2017 and October 2017.