President Jacob Zuma's announcement that the country should look at having one capital had been in the works for years, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.

He said government had been discussing the matter because it was concerned about the costs of maintaining two capitals.

"South Africa would be better served with one capital," he told reporters in Parliament.

Radebe said a number of studies had concluded that maintaining two capitals was too expensive.

He said the research was currently with the public works ministry.

The possible move has been welcomed by the African National Congress and the Economic Freedom Fighters, while analysts said it might be too costly.

Radebe was briefing reporters following a cabinet meeting held earlier this week.

Following the meeting, government announced an about-turn  on the Tax Amendment Act. The commencement of the act has been moved from March 1, 2016 to March 1, 2018.

On the drought, he said cabinet appreciated the spirit of Ubuntu shown by the initiative led by Operation Hydrate.

The operation had been delivering water to drought-stricken communities around the country.

He said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan would elaborate on the government's drought-relief efforts during his budget speech next week.

Speaking about some key cabinet decisions taken, Radebe said it had approved the reclassification of the department of home affairs under the justice, crime prevention and security cluster.

"The mandate of the department of home affairs is to maintain a secure, accurate register of the identity and status of all within the borders of our country, which is a critical enabler of all other functions of the state.

"It is also mandated to manage the immigration system, which impacts directly on national security, social cohesion and achievement of development goals."

The department was previously classified as a general administration support services under the governance and administrative cluster.

Cabinet also approved the submission of the report on the review of the minimum age of criminal capacity.

The reported recommended that the country adopt the international and regional obligations regarding the minimum age of criminal capacity of the children.

Radebe said the age of 12 was being considered as the minimum age. The age is currently 10.

News24.com