Mashatile vows to defeat no-confidence motion against Ramaphosa

Deputy President Paul Mashatile on Tuesday vowed that any motion of no-confidence brought against President Cyril Ramaphosa will be defeated in the National Assembly.

Mashatile spoke to journalists in the Free State province, where he was joined by Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae in leading the Clean Cities and Towns integrated service delivery programme in the Matjhabeng Local Municipality near Welkom.

“We will be ready to defeat it,” said Mashatile.

This comes as the DA on Tuesday backtracked on its threat to implement a motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa, despite tensions between the two parties. 

DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille on Tuesday confirmed that her party would not be proceeding with the motion "for now", but emphasised that they would not be bullied by the ANC within the Government of National Unity (GNU).

Experts have viewed the move by the DA leader as "grandstanding" and "seeking attention" because the party knows that they can't afford to leave the GNU.

The DA and the ANC have been at loggerheads since the axing of Trade and Industry deputy minister Andrew Whitfield last week, resulting in the DA announcing that it would be withdrawing from the National Dialogue.

The party has since accused Ramaphosa of double standards, saying that he condoned corruption after he became mum following the DA's calls to fire Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane.

The DA has accused Nkabane of lying to Parliament about the appointment of ANC-linked individuals to Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) boards.

The DA insists it will not support the budget of the Department of Higher Education and Training while it is under the leadership of Nkabane.

The blue party said it will vote against the budgets of departments headed by “corrupt ANC ministers”.

Reacting to the DA’s assertions, Mashatile said his party, the ANC would vote to pass all budgets in Parliament.

“The GNU (Government of National Unity) is going to continue.

"We are going to vote for all budgets. If the DA does not vote for any budget, it is their problem. The budget is not an instrument of a minister. A budget is for the nation. Even if there is a minister of the DA, that is not their budget. That budget is to help the people, so we, as the ANC, will vote for all budgets. 

“We want this country to work, we want things to proceed. We will vote for all budgets because our people want us to fix the roads, they want water, they want electricity, they want us to grow the economy, employ people and that is what the budget is all about. So, we are proceeding,” Mashatile charged.

The DA has been calling on Ramaphosa to act swiftly and remove Nkabane from office, warning that continued inaction would implicate him in enabling corruption.

Cape Argus