‘Pressure is yielding results': DA to support 2025 Budget after Nkabane fired

IOL News

19 hours ago

Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen. The party has vowed to keep holding ministers accountable within the Government of National Unity after Nkabane's dismissal.
Image: Phando Jikelo / Parliament of RSA
The Democratic Alliance (DA), which is a key partner in the Government of National Unity (GNU), says that it will support the 2025 and 2026 Appropriation Bill following President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to fire Higher Education Minister Dr Nobuhle Nkabane.
The DA said Ramaphosa was forced to yield to sustained pressure from the party to ensure the passage of the bill, which allocates funding to national departments.
'The Democratic Alliance will support the 2025/26 Appropriation Bill following the president's decision to dismiss Minister Nkabane after sustained DA pressure. This decision is the crucial first step in holding compromised ministers accountable,' the party said in a statement.
'While long overdue, the removal of Minister Nkabane confirms that pressure from the DA within the Government of National Unity is yielding results.'
The DA had previously threatened to withhold support for Nkabane's departmental budget following allegations of misconduct and misleading Parliament regarding appointments to Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) boards.
On Tuesday, IOL News reported that the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education found no formal panel was involved in appointing SETA board chairpersons, contradicting Nkabane's earlier claims.
Nkabane previously told Parliament that an 'independent panel' chaired by Advocate Terry Motau oversaw the appointments.
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Motua, along with others named as panel members, including Nkabane's chief of staff, Nelisiwe Semane, and adviser Asisipho Solani - denied any involvement. All testified that no formal meeting or discussion regarding the appointments had taken place.
Ramaphosa has since appointed Buti Manamela, one of Nkabane's deputies, as the new minister of Higher Education Education and Training. Former KwaZulu-Natal Premier Dr. Nomusa Dube-Ncube was named deputy minister.
The budgets for Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and Human Settlements Thembi Simelane will receive support from the DA for their departmental budgets.
The DA had initially raised concerns over alleged corruption in their departments but has agreed to support their budgets while continuing to seek accountability
The Appropriation Bill requires a simple majority, which is 201 of 400 votes in the National Assembly to pass.
The ANC has 159 seats, while the DA has 87 seats.
'We had earlier announced our intention to withhold support for the budgets of ministers implicated in wrongdoing unless dismissals occurred,' the DA said.
'We also laid fraud charges against Minister Nkabane and submitted a complaint to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee.'
'These were not symbolic actions - they were principled stands backed by real consequences, and we will see these actions through to their conclusion. We now welcome the president's decision to act against her.'
The blue party said the dismissal should be 'the beginning, not the end' of holding ministers accountable.
'There are still individuals in the executive facing serious allegations, and if Ramaphosa is serious about restoring public trust, he must act decisively and consistently - not only when under pressure,' the party said.
'The ANC must also accept that it no longer governs alone. In a coalition, meaningful consultation with partners is not optional. It is essential to rebuild public confidence and ensure accountable governance.'
Meanwhile, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party deputy president John Hlophe said the party would not support the passing of the bill and criticised the move, saying the firing of Nkabane was politically strategic rather than principled.
'The firing of the minister of higher education is a very strategic thing to do on the part of President Ramaphosa,' Hlophe said during a media briefing in Cape Town.
'He's doing that to get the support of the DA so that the DA would vote in favor of the budget.'
'I hope South Africans are not fools. We, the MK Party, can see through this. He is doing it not out of genuine concern for South Africans, but purely to get the vote from the DA,' Hlophe said.
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