President F. W. de Klerk rings in cabinet changes

In what was widely regarded as move to prepare the ground for the country's first multiracial elections, President F.W. de Klerk reshuffled the cabinet. This was to come into effect on 1 April 1993. He reduced it in size and for the first time appointed non-White members of Parliament (MPs) to cabinet posts. Five members retired to pave way for new ideas and young blood into the system. The five among others were Gene Louw, Minister of Defence and Public Works, Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee, Correctional Services and Housing and Works Minister, General Magnus Malan, a former Minister of Defence who was demoted in 1991 as result of the Inkathagate scandal. Jac Rabie and Abe Williams, both members of the House of Representatives (Coloured) were appointed Ministers of Sport and Population Development respectively, while Bhandara Ranchod, a member of the (Indian) House of Delegates, was appointed Minister of Tourism. De Klerk indicated that he considered appointing an African Minister, but had decided that such an appointment would have proven counterproductive in the light of the forthcoming elections. The African National Congress (ANC) reacted by saying that the co-option of discredited and discarded figures from the existing parliament was not non-racialism and the world should not be deceived by it.