UPDATE 1-South Africa's Ramaphosa to announce new cabinet at 8 p.m. -presidency

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce his new cabinet at 8:00 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), his spokeswoman said on Wednesday, two weeks after his ruling African National Congress (ANC) saw its majority cut in national elections.

Ramaphosa is expected to announce a smaller cabinet, with several appointments - notably to the finance, energy and mining ministries and the deputy presidency - likely to be closely scrutinised. The delay in announcing a new cabinet after the May 8 vote and his inauguration at the weekend has put markets on edge, worsened by the delay in the swearing-in to the parliament of deputy president David Mabuza, after he was cleared by the ANC of bringing the party into disrepute.

On Tuesday Mabuza was finally sworn in, sending the rand to a two-month low. Mabuza had requested the delay to clear his name before an ANC integrity commission following allegations of impropriety during his decade-long premiership of the mineral-rich eastern Mpumalanga province.

By Wednesday the currency had tumbled to a five-month trough, in part reflecting worries that Mabuza could taint Ramaphosa's promise of reform. Ramaphosa's narrow victory in an ANC leadership election in late 2017, when he replaced scandal-plagued Jacob Zuma, is seen as continuing to constrain his ability to push through reforms as factions inside the party jostle for influence.