<\/p>\n
The Democratic Alliance Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille has issued a stern warning to President Cyril Ramaphosa that if he reshuffles his Cabinet and shows DA ministers the door, it would mark the end of the Government of National Unity (GNU).<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have a coalition agreement that we have a specific number in the Cabinet, less than it should have, but indeed we do have a specific number. If he (Ramaphosa) does that, it’s his choice to end the GNU, simple as that,\u201d Zille said in an interview with SABC News.<\/span><\/p>\n The DA joined the GNU after the African National Congress (ANC) failed to garner enough support to govern alone during last year\u2019s general elections. The blue party has six ministers and six deputy ministers in the GNU.<\/span><\/p>\n Zille\u2019s remarks come amid calls from ANC members, urging ANC president Ramaphosa to take action against the DA after it did not support the passage of the 2025 national budget.<\/span><\/p>\n However, on Tuesday, News reported that the ANC National Working Committee (NWC) has decided to maintain its working relationship with the DA in the GNU.<\/span><\/p>\n This decision comes despite the intense opposition related to the recently approved 0.5% VAT increase proposed by the National Treasury, which has sparked significant backlash, particularly from opposition parties.<\/span><\/p>\n The ANC-led government managed to pass the budget with the controversial VAT hike through support from other smaller parties, including those outside the GNU, such as ActionSA.<\/span><\/p>\n As calls grow for Ramaphosa to fire the DA from the GNU, Zille said if he takes the decision to boot DA Cabinet ministers, it will signal the end of the GNU.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWell, that will be his signal that it is the end of the GNU, and then he will have to put a 10-party coalition. Good luck with it,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n When asked how the ministers who voted against the budget could continue to work and implement programmes that will be funded by the budget they opposed, Zille said the blue party had always called for one thing: renegotiating the budget <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt’s simple. We have said that they have to negotiate the budget and agree to our terms. We have terms on the table, all of which are entirely rational,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAll of those terms are designed to do one thing – kickstart growth and get jobs, (which) is the most basic thing for us to do if we want a budget in future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Zille argued that the DA does not want the country to go bankrupt.<\/span><\/p>\n She said if the party had not insisted on those terms, they would not have been doing their job.<\/span><\/p>\n When pressed with another question on whether it makes sense for DA Cabinet ministers who rejected the budget to remain in the GNU and implement programmes funded by the budget they had strongly opposed, Zille said, \u201cWell, of course, because the bottom line is that we were supposed to enter into a sufficient consensus agreement on the budget with the ANC.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe ANC went behind our back and fooled ActionSA and a few other parties that they could reassess the VAT increase before the end of this month, obviously they can’t do that\u2026\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n Zille claimed that ActionSA, which is led by Herman Mashaba, and other opposition parties outside the GNU were \u201cfooled\u201d into backing the budget passage.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe said that can\u2019t happen, and so, we basically said bring in these economic reforms, allow a spending review, do regulatory review, kickstart growth and where there\u2019s it’s totally rational and reasonable.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf we did not do that, the country and the international community, especially the unemployed South Africans, would have every reason to be angry with us,\u201d Zille added.<\/span><\/p>\n The party has since filed an urgent court application at the Western Cape High Court to interdict the implementation of the 0.5% value-added tax (VAT) increase.<\/span><\/p>\n simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n Politics <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Democratic Alliance Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille has issued a stern warning to President Cyril Ramaphosa that if he reshuffles his Cabinet and shows DA ministers the door, it would mark the end of the Government of National Unity (GNU). \u201cWe have a coalition agreement that we have a specific number in the Cabinet, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[16440,2546,426,4575,807,5660],"class_list":["post-237015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-politics","tag-gnu","tag-ministers","tag-ramaphosa","tag-removing","tag-warns","tag-zille"],"yoast_head":"\n