Some senior DA members pushed for the party to quit the government of national unity (GNU) at a two-hour federal executive meeting yesterday, but were defeated by a strong camp aligned with leader John Steenhuisen.
The DA meeting was called after Ramaphosa ignored Steenhuisen’s 48-hour ultimatum issued on Thursday that he should fire two ministers and a deputy minister implicated in state capture, corruption and deliberately misleading parliament. The ultimatum was issued hours after Ramaphosa’s shock sacking of DA deputy minister of trade, industry & competition, Andrew Whitfield, for “insubordination” after he flew to the US without the president’s permission at the height of diplomatic tensions between Pretoria and Washington.
DA sources who attended the meeting said there had been a new push for the party to walk out of the GNU — but Steenhuisen and his backers, including some cabinet ministers, shot it down. Federal council chair Helen Zille said party leaders “had a strong debate” about tabling a motion of no confidence in Ramaphosa, but this proposal was also rejected.
It's of course not the first time the DA has threatened to leave the GNU but then backed down. Before this we saw the same tactic play out with regards to the proposed VAT increase, the Employment Equity Act, the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act and the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act.
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