JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The African National Congress(ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, Monday dismissed the opposition party Democratic Alliance (DA)'s low scoring on cabinetmembers.

    The DA released the document assessing the performance of cabinet ministers since they assumed office after the April elections at a media briefing earlier on Monday.

    In a rating of ministerial performance on a scale of one to 10 across all 28 ministries, including the offices of the president and deputy president, the average grade was five.

    The best performer was Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, who scored 8/10, while the worst was Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who "barely managed to scrape" her tally of 1/10.

    South African President Thabo Mbeki himself earned the overall average of five points.

    The ANC said in a statement it welcomed contributions to the national debate "which stimulate a meaningful exchange of views and contribute to the ongoing national effort to create work, fight poverty and build a better life for all."

    However, it noted, "the ANC is disappointed that the DA's analysis of government performance does neither. The DA's contribution remains constrained by its narrow party political interests, and contains little more than the hollow rhetoric of its earlier public pronouncements." Enditem