Ramaphosa fires minister to save budget deal and coalition unity

Key topics:Ramaphosa fires Nkabane to secure DA support for key budget voteDA threatened budget block over Nkabane's alleged misconductMore ANC ministers face suspension amid corruption allegations.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.The auditorium doors will open for BNIC#2 on 10 September 2025 in Hermanus. For more information and tickets, click here..By Paul Vecchiatto.South Africa’s president ousted his embattled education minister, clearing the path to secure backing from a key coalition partner for crucial budget legislation that’s set to go before lawmakers this week.Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane is being replaced by Buti Manamela, the presidency said in a statement on Monday, without providing reasons for the change. Nkabane has faced allegations of lying to parliament, which she has denied. .Nkabane’s dismissal marks the second time this month President Cyril Ramaphosa has acted against ministers from his African National Congress party who’ve faced accusations of wrongdoing. Ramaphosa suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on July 13 over explosive allegations that he sabotaged an investigation into political assassinations — allegations that he’s also denied. The Democratic Alliance, the second-biggest party in South Africa’s coalition government, had threatened to withhold support for Nkabane’s departmental budget unless Ramaphosa acted against her. Such a move risked blocking passage of the Appropriation Bill, which facilitates the allocation of government funds.“The president’s dismissal of Nkabane is a step in the right direction and the DA will now support the departmental budget on higher education,” DA national spokesman Willie Aucamp said by phone from Johannesburg on Monday. Lawmakers will consider the Appropriation Bill on Wednesday.The president has faced mounting calls to act against colleagues suspected of wrongdoing and show South Africa has emerged from the shadow of former President Jacob Zuma’s almost nine-year rule, when members of the ANC were deeply implicated in corruption.In a separate statement late on Monday, Ramaphosa announced the suspension of Andrew Chauke as a director of public prosecutions in the nation’s Gauteng province.“The President believes Advocate Chauke’s continued tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions — while facing serious accusations — would negatively affect the reputation of the National Prosecuting Authority as a whole,” Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement..Read more:.Minister Simelane under fire: R34bn housing budget defended amid fraud probe and political storm.Chauke has been accused of mishandling or delaying prosecutions of high-level police officers and ANC officials — allegations he’s denied, according to Johannesburg-based news website TimesLive.Ramaphosa formed the so-called government of national unity with the business-friendly DA and other rivals after last year’s parliamentary elections failed to produce an outright winner. Investors are counting on it to deliver reforms to boost anaemic economic growth. The DA laid charges against Nkabane on July 1, accusing her of making false claims over appointments to industrial training boards. It’s laid separate charges against Mchunu, a close ally of the president who helped him become leader of the ANC in 2017 and ultimately head of Africa’s most-industrialised nation, as well as Human Settlements Minister Thembisile Simelane, alleging that she defrauded state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.The DA has also threatened to hold support for the Human Settlements departmental budget vote. Its parliamentary caucus will discuss that issue later on Tuesday, Aucamp said..© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Ramaphosa fires minister to save budget deal and coalition unity

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