President Cyril Ramaphosa has fired higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane, a late shake-up that could pave the way for the passing of a bill that authorises state spending amid threats by the DA to pull support for two departments, and the ANC’s scramble to secure fallback support.
The DA had previously threatened not to approve the departmental budget votes of higher education’s Nkabane and human settlements, headed by Thembisile Simelane, based on corruption allegations against the pair.
While the removal of Nkabane may soften tensions around higher education, disputes over human settlements remain, leaving the ANC short of a guaranteed majority to pass the Appropriations Bill, which is due to be considered by parliamentarians on Wednesday.
“The discussions [on the Appropriations Bill] are still going on and that will be until the voting at plenary,” ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli told Business Day.
Though the DA has claimed victory for Nkabane’s dismissal on Monday, it said there remains a “long list of ANC corruption to be eradicated”.
“Seeing one ANC minister depart cabinet under storming clouds of lies, deceit, cadre deployment corruption and a Hawks investigation is a first step to restoring our faith that the GNU will not tolerate corruption,” DA MP Karabo Khakhau said.
“Our demand to President Ramaphosa was for him to take action against the seriously compromised, corrupt and nefarious in the ANC, and the firing of Nkabane is the first step for him,” Khakhau said.
The DA’s threat to vote down the departmental budgets and the ANC’s courting of backups have turned what used to be a routine fiscal process into a referendum on coalition trust.
The ANC remains optimistic that it can broker a compromise with its GNU partner and persuade the party to soften its stance. The impasse boils down to the DA’s opposition, not to spending, but to the ANC ministers who run these portfolios.
If the bill fails, it could trigger another budget crisis similar to the February and March budget saga, when the Treasury’s push for a VAT increase forced urgent rewrites and political brinkmanship. The National Assembly salvaged passage of the fiscal framework in March after the ANC struck a deal with ActionSA and other parties outside the GNU.
Legal action by the DA and EFF torpedoed the compromise, prompting further discussions that led to adoption by both houses in June, four months after the first budget was tabled.
For service delivery, the stakes are high. The failure of the bill will also force the government to operate under emergency fiscal rules, under which departments can draw from the National Revenue Fund, capped at 45% of the previous year’s appropriation during the first four months and 10% for each subsequent month. These ceilings are binding. Any expenditure beyond these limits breaches the Public Finance Management Act.
All or nothing
Under rule 328 of the National Assembly standing orders, all departmental budgets must pass together — it’s all or nothing. But parliament has built in an escape hatch. If the vote looks shaky for one department, rule 2(1)(c) allows MPs to suspend any rule — including the one requiring the full vote — if they pass a separate resolution.
This waiver has not been used before in budget votes, but it is legal and would need a simple majority of members present.
The GNU enters this week’s vote with a theoretical cushion — 285 seats, well above the 201-vote threshold required to pass the Appropriation Bill. But that maths holds only if the DA, which holds 86 seats, stays in the tent. If the party follows through on its threat to withdraw support, the GNU would plunge to 199 seats — two short of the required majority, and suddenly be vulnerable. In that scenario, support from non-GNU parties would be required to pass the bill.
During the recent budget vote debates, Build One SA (Bosa), which is not part of the GNU, publicly indicated support for the departmental budgets of higher education and human settlements.
Held ransom
This position suggests that, even if the DA votes against these allocations, the bill could still pass with support from Bosa and other non-GNU parties, provided quorum is met and a majority of members present vote in favour.
The tensions over departmental votes are less about fiscal discipline and more about political symbolism, according to a senior Treasury official.
“The budget is being held ransom by politicians and they are fighting over ministers, not the actual budget,” the official said.
The only way to avoid another budget crisis is “the president needs to dismiss ministers Nkabane and Simelane”, DA spokesperson Willie Aucamp said.
The DA’s stance against Nkabane and Simelane, who are accused of lying to parliament and are ensnared in corruption allegations, respectively, hardened after Ramaphosa fired DA deputy minister Andrew Whitfield over an unauthorised trip to the US.
The party saw this as disproportionate punishment compared with the leniency shown to ANC ministers facing more serious accusations.
Update: July 21 2025
This story has been updated with new information throughout.
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