by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG – THE firing from cabinet of a deputy minister belonging to one of the largest partners in the coalition government in South Africa, exactly a year after the cabinet came into office, is the latest turbulence the administration has lurched into.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ruffled the feathers of the Democratic Alliance (DA) after removing Andrew Whitfield as the Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition.
Whitfield, also the DA’s leader in the Eastern Cape province, is the first to be axed since Ramaphosa appointed the cabinet on June 30, 2024.
His expulsion follows an incident earlier this year when he was part of a DA delegation that toured the United States at a time when the relations between the two countries became strained after Donald Trump was sworn-in as president.
The DA believes Ramaphosa was complicit in this visit because the president reportedly ignored Whitfield’s letter seeking authorisation to travel and another seeking an apology if the visit had caused offence.
The DA believes Ramaphosa has not only acted in violation of the spirit of the so-called government of national unity (GNU), but is biased as he has not fired any cabinet members of his African National Congress (ANC) that have been implicated in more severe transgressions.
A number of those ANC members are implicated for corruption and lying to Parliament.
According to some reports, Whitfield had also tackled alleged corruption allegations involving the recent tender for the National Lottery, where it is alleged the family of Deputy President Paul Mashatile benefitted.
John Steenhuisen, leader of the DA, described the decision by Ramaphosa as a calculated political assault on the second-largest party in the governing coalition.
“To make matters even worse, this drastic unilateral action appears to be the product of a flagrant double standard,” he said at a press conference hastily arranged on Thursday after Ramaphosa fired Whitfield.
This has sparked an uncertainty around the coalition after the DA gave the president 48 hours, from Thursday, to fire ministers from ANC.
These include David Mahlobo (Deputy-Water and Sanitation), Nobuhle Nkabane (Higher Education) and Thembi Simelane (Human Settlements).
“If they fail to do so, the ANC will inflict grave consequences on South Africa. What happens next is entirely on the ANC and President Ramaphosa,” Steenhusien said.
“They did not have to do this. They triggered all of the events that followed. Should the ANC fail to meet our ultimatum, all bets are off and the consequences will be theirs to bear.”
Last year, DA threatened to quit the coalition government if the president fired Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube (DA), after she snubbed an event Ramaphosa presided over to launch the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill.
It is among legislations that ANC and DA, the main parties in the government have wrangled over since they came together after the May 2024 elections. The ANC had been in power since democracy in 1994 but lost its majority.
It has been an uneasy coalition, especially on the differences between ANC and DA.
Earlier this year, the DA filed a court case challenging the legality of the budget process that the ANC supported. This culminated in the first time the budget was ever halted.
ANC found itself isolated as a majority of the GNU partners denounced the budget that was centred on tax hikes.
Some opposition parties outside the coalition government are reveling at the quarrels.
“Let me also express my appreciation and commendation of President Ramaphosa for developing the testicular fortitude to remove the deputy minister, who was ineffective and incompetent,” Sinawo Tambo, spokesperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), said at the plenary of the National Assembly.
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party of former ANC and the country’s president, Jacob Zuma, called this “a sign of GNU dysfunction.”
“This development highlights the inherent flaws in the GNU’s composition, which the MK Party has consistently warned against,” MK party stated.
– CAJ News
