The DA has ended its withdrawal of support of the Appropriations Bill after President Cyril Ramaphosa fired higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane.
The DA, a partner in the government of national unity (GNU), has previously vowed to withhold support for the budget allocations of the higher education and human settlements ministries, citing corruption allegations linked to the respective political heads.
However, the dismissal of Nkabane on Monday night forced the party to reassess its position.
The DA had withdrawn its support of the national dialogue after Ramaphosa’s dismissal of DA deputy minister of trade, industry & competition Andrew Whitfield over an unauthorised trip to the US.
The decision to vote in support of the bill, which will be considered by MPs on Wednesday, was taken during an emergency meeting of the DA’s leadership on Tuesday.
It averts a potential third budget crisis of the GNU after the February and March budgets had to be revised due to a contentious proposal to hike VAT.
“The DA acted in the national interest when we passed the Division of Revenue Bill to enable provinces and municipalities to continue to receive funding, and we will now pass the Appropriation Bill in the national interest after the president’s actions,” DA leader John Steenhuisen said in a statement.
“We had earlier announced our intention to withhold support for the budgets of ministers implicated in wrongdoing unless dismissals occurred, and we also laid fraud charges against minister Nkabane and submitted a complaint to the parliamentary ethics committee.
“These were not symbolic actions, they were principled stands backed by real consequence, and we will see these actions through to its conclusion.”
Ramaphosa replaced Nkabane with long-time deputy minister Buti Manamela, while appointing former KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube as his deputy. The pair were sworn in on Tuesday at a ceremony in Cape Town.
Thembi Simelane, who leads the human settlements portfolio and remains under scrutiny by the DA, retained her post.
“There are still individuals in the executive facing serious allegations. If the president is serious about restoring public trust, he must act decisively and consistently, not only when under pressure,” Steenhuisen said.
Under rule 328 of the National Assembly standing orders, all departmental budgets must pass together. But parliament has built in a loophole: 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.
Meanwhile, parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education and training resumed its inquiry on Tuesday into the appointments of sector education and training authority (Seta) board chairpersons.
Nkabane was first summoned to appear before the committee on Friday to account for the Seta appointments, but failed to attend, saying she was at a gender-based violence event at a technical vocational education & training (TVET) college.
The committee then set Tuesday as the date for her appearance. On Monday night, Ramaphosa dismissed her from the cabinet, preventing her from appearing before the committee and prompting it to proceed with her Seta panellists.
The Seta nomination process had drawn national criticism after several appointees were linked to senior ANC figures, including Buyambo Mantashe, son of mineral & petroleum resources minister Gwede Mantashe, and former premiers Dube-Ncube and Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane.
Critics alleged nepotism and political interference, leading Ramaphosa to demand a full report on the advisory process.
On Friday, only two of the five people named by Nkabane — advocate Terry Motau and chief director Mabuza Ngubane — appeared before the committee.
Motau testified that he was not “formally appointed or instructed to serve on any advisory panel”.
Ngubane confirmed she had received an appointment letter, dated March 7, but said: “No meetings were convened and I did not evaluate nominees.”
Chief of staff Nelisiwe Semane, deputy director-general Rhulani Ngwenya and adviser Asisipho Solani neither attended meetings nor responded to the invitation.
At Tuesday’s session, committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie moved to exclude the panellists and prevent their statements from being heard.
Members from the DA, IFP, MK party and EEF voted instead to allow the panellists to read their submissions in full and have them entered into the record, while the ANC and Patriotic Alliance supported Letsie’s exclusion motion.
All three panellists then read their statements for the official record and answered committee members’ questions.
Ngwenya said her role was limited to secretarial support and she did not participate in the screening of candidates.
Ngubane said he was not involved in setting up meetings or screening the nominations of candidates for the Seta board chairpersons.
Solani presented his March appointment letter and terms of reference, affirming: “I discharged this role in my capacity as adviser to the minister and received no additional remuneration.”
Members of the DA, MK party and EFF indicated they would move to compel Nkabane to appear in her capacity as a National Assembly member.
DA MP Karabo Khakhau said whether Nkabane was a minister or not did not change that she misled parliament. Statutory breaches remained subject to oversight beyond executive office, Khakhau said.
Letsie confirmed that all panellist submissions would form part of the official record and that the committee would refer any discrepancies to parliament’s ethics committee.
The department was instructed to submit outstanding documentation to substantiate its account of the Seta appointment process.
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