DA rejects Simelane, Nkabane departmental budgets
This after the party this week voted against budgets of the departments of human settlements and higher education led by Thembi Simelane-Nkadimeng and Nobuhle Nkabane respectively.
This decision was taken as a direct response to President Cyril Ramaphosa axing trade and industry deputy minister Andrew Whitfield, of the DA, last week for defying his order that none of the members of his executive were allowed to go to the US at the height of the diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
The DA in response argued that Ramaphosa had been harsh on Whitfield and that it was not acceptable that he fired him for such a minor transgression while he still kept Simelane and Nkabane in his cabinet.
Unlike Whitfield, the DA argued, Simelane was accused of corruption and Nkabane stood accused of lying to parliament. Instead of dealing with the two ministers who were facing serious allegations, Ramaphosa decided to axe Whitfield for going on a trip without getting permission, the DA argued.
DA MP Luyolo Mphithi on Wednesday said his party was voting against Simelane's budget vote because of the corruption allegations she was facing.
Mphithi said the DA was concerned that instead of firing Simelane, Ramaphosa had moved her from the department of justice to human settlements.
'You'd think that the response to this that the president would have shown minister Simelane the door, he did not. He asked for the report that he stayed with for three months,' said Mphithi.
'And even though the DA sustained pressure asking the president to act, he lacked courage to act and instead decided to dump minister Simelane at human settlements, one of the most important departments for South Africans.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Maverick
22 minutes ago
- Daily Maverick
How South Africa fell into the dull political loop of becoming boring
The death of meaningful political advancement means that South Africa has become stuck in a rut of its own carving. Is there a way forward? Remember when South Africa used to be fun? Remember when the memes slammed into each other like neutrons and electrons, causing small explosions every 15 seconds or so? Remember when there was a fancy term for corruption? Remember when optimism and pessimism cycled around each other in an endless loop, and didn't always land on 'this sucks'? Yeah, me neither. South Africa has become boring. I'm not talking about a lack of political spectacle — there is still Floyd Shivambu scurrying around the kleptocratic wilds looking for a political party to hide behind, and the general idiocy at MK, which is eating itself, like faecal parasites. There is still President Cyril Ramaphosa trying to assert himself on the local stage while playing a pliant mouse in the White House. There's still the alleged drama within the alleged GNU, really just a coalition government and horse-trading forum where the Ramaphosa wing of the ANC and the house-trained wing of the DA bargain on behalf of their backers. Nor am I using 'boring' as a simile for 'blandly functional' — a sort of Scandinavian or Botswana-ish plodding along that results in something akin to stability. What I mean is boring in the true sense of the term — an endless drilling down into the depths of utter nothingness. Is anything happening in South Africa that could be meaningfully termed progress? If you're a capitalist, is the economy growing? If you're a socialist, is the economy becoming fairer? If you're a communist, is anyone at all being sent to the gulag? I'd wager no. Apologists for the coalition government point out several areas where something seems to be moving. The Hawks, South Africa's crack cops, appear to have pulled the proverbial thumb out, and have made some big arrests. The National Prosecuting Authority sort of/kind of won a case. The Transnet baddies have finally been arrested, even though most South Africans (outside of Cape Town) have forgotten what a train looks like. But even with these dogged, incremental improvements, crime and corruption are so embedded in the South African political, economic, social and cultural space that it hardly touches sides. Always accomplished sports-washers, South Africans can point to the excellent performance of our major teams in international competitions, but it's worth remembering that tiny East Germany cleaned up at the Olympic Games during the Cold War, and no one in West Germany was risking their life to hop the wall into the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Culturally, the music and movie booms teased during the 90s and noughties have stalled out. There is no meaningful support of artists in this country, which means talent gets strangled at birth. The Sports and Culture minister can't do sport and wouldn't know culture if JM Coetzee's entire bibliography was tattooed on his butt cheeks. The DTIC under Parks Tau has become exclusively focused on ensuring that American preferential trade deals remain in place, despite the fact that America thinks it's being screwed by Lesotho. The department no longer assesses applications for film industry tax rebates, a standard industry stimulus that pertains in any market that hopes to draw filmmaking talent. Tau has single-handedly killed the industry, through sheer ignorance and lassitude. (There are also those sweet sweet Lotto tenders, which may or may not have cost deputy minister Andrew Whitfield his gig.) Sure, there are individual politicians who are truly gifted—I'm thinking Geordin Hill-Lewis in Cape Town, and perhaps a handful of other players here and there. But Helen 'Supreme Karen' Zille has auditioned for the role of Johannesburg Executive Mayor, a role that has not been blessed with talent of late. Zille, a vet of State Capture and Ramaphosa's first-term Race Grift Wars, feels like an absurd anachronism at this point. And the only people keeping Julius Malema alive are her allied American race warriors, who don't seem to understand — because they don't understand anything — that Malema has no constituency, and no power base. So what's next? Zuma for president? Sort of. Deputy President Paul Mashitile, at this point a shoe-in for the ANC's next leader, did state capture before there was State Capture. As a ranking member of the Gauteng ANC mafia, he is adept at taking a piece of the action, and will only entrench and deepen South Africa's kleptocratic tendencies. It's all so boring. So where is the pushback? Part of the problem is that most people seem to be waiting for the coalition to click, and have deferred the responsibilities of citizenship to their proxies inside government. (See: the VAT fight.) But the coalition won't click, as should be perfectly plain now. As this suggests, the bigger problem is an existential exhaustion. First, there was the fight against apartheid. Then, there was the fight against State Capture. Now, there is the fight against reverse anti-white apartheid. (I'm kidding, I'm kidding.) The population of this country has been stirred up into a big mound of lukewarm mieliemeal — cheap carbs, hold the gravy. So much of it comes down to the fact that the dispensation just hasn't served the majority, not even close. I'm going to quote Peter Thiel here. Yup, Peter 'I Pull The Heads Off Babies' Thiel: 'When one has too much student debt or if housing is too unaffordable, then one will have negative capital for a long time … and if one has no stake in the capitalist system, then one may well turn against it.' No shit, homie. Most South Africans have tacitly turned against the system. The MK party's surge at the polls was a protest vote that functioned as a large raised middle finger at the establishment. And so downward we bore, deeper into the Earth's core than our defunct gold mines. It is perhaps ironic that South Africa's most interesting politician just won the Democratic primary for mayor in New York City. I know, calling Zohran Mamdani South African is a stretch, but he was educated here, and one imagines part of his world-view was formed here. Maybe that's why he can so clearly see through the guff, and understand that a politics of fairness, driven for and by the majority, is the only way forward. It's telling that both Republicans and Democrats are flipping out over the guy, as of course would any South African politician. Mamdani's platform leaves no room for grift, for the double-dealing and self-enrichment that has become the hallmark of postmodern politics. That's why we're boring, and why we'll keep digging our own deep graves. And why Mamdani presents a way forward that South Africans would do well to consider. DM
Daily Maverick
an hour ago
- Daily Maverick
Ramaphosa confirms death of former deputy president David Mabuza, aged 64
The death of the country's former deputy president was confirmed by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday evening. Ramaphosa said David Mabuza 'deserves our appreciation for his deep commitment to the liberation struggle and to the nation's development as an inclusive, prosperous, democratic state'. David Dabede 'DD' Mabuza, the former South African deputy president, died on Thursday, 3 July 2025. On Thursday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed his death, saying Mabuza died in an Mpumalanga hospital following a short illness. 'On behalf of government and the nation, I offer my profound condolences to the late Deputy President's wife, Mrs Mabuza, and the children. I extend my condolences to Deputy President Mabuza's friends and the people of Mpumalanga, whom he served as premier from 2009 to 2018, and previously as a Member of the Executive Council of Mpumalanga across a range of portfolios,' said Ramaphosa. Mabuza was first sworn in as deputy president in February 2018 and again in May 2019 as part of the 6th democratic administration, led by President Ramaphosa. He was born in Mpumalanga on 25 August 1960. According to the Presidency's profile of Mabuza, he held several positions within the Mpumalanga executive, including MEC for agriculture and land administration from 2008 to 2009; MEC for roads and transport from 2007 to 2008; a Member of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature from 2004 to 2007. He was also a Member of Parliament from 2001 to 2004 and before that, Mpumalanga MEC for housing from 1999 to 2001 and MEC for education between 1994 and 1998. He was a mathematics teacher by training. 'Grounded in activism' Ramaphosa praised Mabuza's contribution to South Africa: 'We are saddened today by the loss of a leader who was grounded in activism at the early stages of his political career and who came to lead our nation and shape South Africa's engagement with our continental compatriots and the international community in his role as Deputy President.' 'The former Deputy President deserves our appreciation for his deep commitment to the liberation struggle and to the nation's development as an inclusive, prosperous, democratic state.' Fikile Mbalula, the secretary-general of Mabuza's political home, the African National Congress (ANC), was the first to confirm Mabuza's death on Thursday afternoon. He posted on social media platform X: 'Comrade Mabuza dedicated his life to the service of the people of South Africa. From his days in the struggle against apartheid to his leadership as Premier of Mpumalanga and later as Deputy President, he was a committed cadre who carried the values of unity, discipline, and transformation.' Key player in Ramaphosa's rise Mabuza was a key player in the ascendancy of Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC president in 2017. Stephen Grootes wrote in November 2022: 'It is difficult now to remember just how potent Mabuza was five years ago. It is generally accepted that without his intervention, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma would have won the ANC presidency. 'This would have led to the continued supremacy of Jacob Zuma's faction, and a likely party split. It would have also been coupled with massive social turmoil as a result of the continuation of Gupta-aligned control of South Africa just as the #GuptaLeaks laid bare most of their crimes. 'It was this central positioning that forced the CR17 campaign to make Mabuza deputy president. Mabuza even had the power to force Ramaphosa to postpone his Cabinet announcement.' Mabuza was relatively quiet during his term as deputy president. He was tasked with overseeing key programmes, but was often more notable for his absence rather than his influence. Civil case, ill health and corruption scandals Mabuza was, however, locked in a long-running civil case against conservationist Fred Daniel, which dated back to his governance tenure in Mpumalanga, as Daily Maverick's Kevin Bloom reported. He had also been in and out of Russia, seeking medical treatment and follow-up consultation in that country. As Daily Maverick reported in 2o21, Mabuza had allegedly been poisoned during his tenure as Mpumalanga premier. Mabuza had also been front and centre of a New York Times feature in 2018, which claimed that during his time as Mpumalanga premier, 'millions of dollars for education have disappeared into a vortex of suspicious spending, shoddy public construction and brazen corruption to fuel his political ambitions, according to government records and officials in his party'. Since leaving public office, Mabuza kept a relatively low profile, though he attended this year's State of the Nation Address. Resignation Mabuza resigned from Parliament in March 2023 to make way for new ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile to fill the role as the country's No 2. 'On behalf of the African National Congress, we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, comrades, and the people of South Africa. We have lost a patriot, a freedom fighter and a leader who served with humility and conviction,' posted Mbalula. Condolences poured in from the political arena following the news of Mabuza's passing. Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille – who worked with Mabuza in Cabinet from 2018 to 2023 – said: 'He was an exemplary chair of intergovernmental forums, his meetings were marked by punctuality, clarity of purpose, and firm outcomes. I personally admired his respect for time and process, and it is a discipline we can all learn from in public service.' ActionSA President Herman Mashaba said, 'While varying reflections on his legacy will no doubt unfold in the days to come, ActionSA simply wishes to extend compassion to his family as they begin this difficult mourning journey. We pray for their strength, peace and comfort during this time of loss.' Mabuza's parents were farmers, and multiple organisations noted his modest upbringing. 'From humble beginnings, he rose to occupy one of the highest offices in the land, carrying with him the hopes of many and a profound sense of duty to his country,' said IFP President Velenkosini Hlabisa on Thursday. Cosatu said, 'Deputy president Mabuza was amongst the founding generation of teacher activists, then split amongst many different trade unions scattered across the country, and often along racial lines to form the South African Democratic Teachers' Union, the first national non-racial teachers' union and today the largest teachers' union. 'His experience as a teacher and principal made him a fitting choice as the first MEC for education in Mpumalanga province after the democratic breakthrough of 1994.' Ramaphosa said, 'Further announcements will be made in due course on memorial arrangements and the honours with which the country will pay its final respects to the former Deputy President.' DM
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
President Ramaphosa pays tribute to former Deputy President David Mabuza
Former deputy president David Mabuza died on Thursday at the age of 64. Image: GCIS President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to his former deputy president David Mabuza. In a statement from the presidency, Ramaphosa said Mabuza passed away on Thursday at a hospital following a short illness. He was 64 years of age. Ramaphosa conveyed his condolences to Mabuza's family. "On behalf of government and the nation, I offer my profound condolences to the late deputy president's wife, Mrs Mabuza, and their children. I extend my condolences to deputy president Mabuza's friends and the people of Mpumalanga whom he served as Premier from 2009 to 2018, and previously as a Member of the Executive Council of Mpumalanga across a range of portfolios." He said Mabuza had a deep commitment to the liberation struggle and to the nation's development as an inclusive, prosperous, democratic state. "We are saddened today by the loss of a leader who was grounded in activism at the early stages of his political career and who came to lead our nation and shape South Africa's engagement with our continental compatriots and the international community in his role as deputy president." He said Mabuza applied his leadership and mobilisation abilities to his role as the Leader of Government Business in Parliament; leading the South African National Aids Council; coordinating anti-poverty initiatives in the form of Public Employment Programmes, Integrated Service Delivery and Enterprise Development. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Ramaphosa added that further announcements will be made in due course on memorial arrangements and the honours with which the country will pay its final respects to Mabuza. IFP president, Velenkosini Hlabisa also conveyed condolences to the Mabuza family and the ANC. "On behalf of the IFP, I extend our heartfelt condolences to the Mabuza family, his comrades in the African National Congress (ANC), his friends and colleagues, and to the people of South Africa who mourn the loss of our former deputy president. "Mr Mabuza was a leader who dedicated his life to the betterment of others. From humble beginnings, he rose to occupy one of the highest offices in the land, carrying with him the hopes of many and a profound sense of duty to his country. "He served with quiet resolve and a deep commitment to the people of South Africa. In this time of sorrow, we honour his contribution to our democratic journey and to the cause of justice, dignity, and development for all South Africans," Hlabisa said. THE MERCURY
