DA calls on Ramaphosa to axe Gigaba and Dlamini

The DA has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba and minister for women in the presidency Bathabile Dlamini immediately if he is committed to taking SA into a new era. The party has instituted legal proceedings in the high court in Pretoria, which will hear the matter on March 11.

It is asking the court to declare the decision by Ramaphosa to reappoint Gigaba and Dlamini in his February cabinet reshuffle as irrational, unconstitutional and unlawful, and that it should be set aside.

The DA argues in its court papers that Ramaphosa’s failure to act against Gigaba and Dlamini despite the findings of the courts “serve to undermine the rule of law and democracy”.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane called on the president on Monday not to wait until the court hearing but to remove the two ministers immediately.

Gigaba has been found by the courts to have lied under oath in the decision to grant the Oppenheimers permission for Fireblade Aviation to operate a private terminal at OR Tambo International Airport.

He also facilitated the granting of citizenship to members of the Gupta family. Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has called on Ramaphosa to take disciplinary action against Gigaba for lying under oath. The Constitutional Court found Dlamini is personally responsible for the crisis over the payment of social grants and the delay in replacing Cash Paymaster Services as the distributor of social grants.