Former second Deputy Minister for the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and now DA Eastern Cape leader Andrew Whitfield. (Photo: Lulama Zenzile / Die Burger / Gallo Images) 
Former deputy trade and industry minister, Andrew Whitfield, has described the timing of his axing by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 25 June as “very curious”.
In an interview with Daily Maverick over the weekend, Whitfield said that while he respects the President’s sanction, he still has many questions about his dismissal.
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber CEO, Denise van Huyssteen, said Whitfield’s sudden axing caused political instability in the metro at a time the economy is under immense strain and business confidence is needed. Whitfield, who serves as the DA leader in the Eastern Cape, was due to hold talks with the Chamber on Monday, 30 June.
According to a statement issued by Ramaphosa on Friday, 27 June: “[Whitfield] was removed as a Deputy Minister because he undertook an international visit without the permission of the President.”
Ramaphosa added that there is precedent for this sanction.
“His travel to the United States was a clear violation of the rules and established practices governing the conduct of members of the executive. This requirement is known to all ministers and deputy ministers,” Ramaphosa said.
Read more: ‘Clear violation of the rules’ — Ramaphosa breaks silence on Whitfield debacle
Extensive travel
Whitfield told Daily Maverick his first question about his dismissal is why Ramaphosa waited for four months before saying or doing anything about the visit to the US.
Whitfield said he had travelled extensively over the past year; and he had always received an answer for a travel request from Ramaphosa’s office within days. Whitfield said he didn’t always like the answers – one decision, for example, declined him an opportunity to take part in a course at Harvard University in the US, funded by himself. However, he pointed out, he always respected the President’s decisions and had complied with them to the letter.
“Going to Harvard would have been an extraordinary opportunity for me. I however decided not to go when the President declined this trip.”
He said he had asked for permission to go on a DA-funded trip to Washington in the United States, scheduled for four months ago. “I am a senior leader in the party and I understand the local trade agreement,” he said.
For the first time, however, he received no answer from the office of the President when he requested permission to go on the trip. He said he made several requests and follow-ups for 10 days preceding the trip. He then went on the trip treating Ramaphosa’s silence “as consent”.
Whitfield added that Ramaphosa’s sanction was disproportionate if compared to other ministers whose unauthorised travel was met with the sanction of having their salaries docked. He added that several of the ANC ministers currently face much more serious allegations but are still serving in the Cabinet.
“I am not disputing the President’s legal authority to discipline me,” he said. “I accept my sanction.”
However, he said, the time lapse, the lack of consultation on the side of the President and the severity of the sanction baffled him as to what the motive could be.
Whitfield said he would now turn his attention to coordinating the DA’s local government campaign in Nelson Mandela Bay to win the metro with an outright majority for the party. In 2016 when the DA succeeded in winning a majority in the metro with the ACDP, COPE and the UDM, he headed the campaign of Athol Trollip, then the DA leader in the region, but who has subsequently joined Action SA.
He joined Trollip’s team running the city in 2016 as mayoral committee member for economic development, tourism and agriculture and, after Trollip was removed as mayor by a motion of no confidence, Whitfield returned to the Parliament in 2019.
The motion of no confidence against Trollip is currently the subject of a criminal court case involving the Nelson Mandela Bay ANC secretary-general Luyolo Nqakula.
Nqakula is among those accused of manipulating a tender and using kickbacks to pay bribes promised to former DA councillors Mbulelo Manyathi, Trevor Louw and Neville Higgins, to vote for a motion of no confidence in Trollip.
Whitfield said he believed the party had an extraordinary candidate in former mayor Retief Odendaal and a strong foundation that would help the DA win next year’s local government elections.
Local government
“Eventually everything does come back to the local government level,” he said. “If you can fix the economy of Nelson Mandela Bay, you can fix the economy of the Eastern Cape.”
“To serve in the executive branch of our Government of National Unity [GNU] has been a unique honour with many ups and downs,” he said.
During his tenure Whitfield was praised by the manufacturing industry in Nelson Mandela Bay for his work on a regulatory review to cut down red tape, with new legislation in the pipeline. He played a key role in ensuring that block exemption on ports and rail be extended to a minimum of 15 years in order to enable private-sector investment.
Whitfield has a long track record in the metro where he served as the youth leader for the DA in 2010, an elected councillor in 2010 and a member of Parliament in 2014.
He currently serves as the DA’s leader in the Eastern Cape. Whitfield added that he had a fruitful time as deputy minister and had a strong working relationship with Minister Parks Tau whose work ethic he admired.
He said he doubted his axing was prompted by his asking questions about the new Lotto contract as his involvement there “ended over six months ago. I was being excluded.”
The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber CEO, Denise van Huyssteen, said Whitfield’s sudden axing caused political instability at a time when the economy is under immense strain and business confidence is needed.
“We were very concerned about the sudden termination of Whitfield,” she said.
"This has prompted concerns around the stability of the political environment. This also comes at a time when the country’s economy is already under immense strain due to geo-political shifts, global manufacturing footprint re-allocations, logistics inefficiencies and service delivery challenges at a municipal level.
“A stable political environment is fundamental in stimulating business confidence and economic stability in the country.
“It is absolutely vital that the Government of National Unity remains intact in order to drive the retention and attraction of much needed investment and employment to South Africa,” she said.
Whitfield and his team were due in Nelson Mandela Bay today for a trade and investment meeting with the Business Chamber.
DA’s response to dismissal
On Thursday, 26 June, DA leader John Steenhuisen said in Parliament that he was informed by Ramaphosa of his decision to dismiss Whitfield a mere three hours before a letter was sent to the former deputy minister.
Steenhuisen added that Whitfield subsequently wrote to the President to apologize if his going on the USA trip without authorisation caused offence.
He added that the “drastic unilateral action” against Whitfield is a “product of a flagrant double standard”.
Steenhuisen then gave Ramaphosa 48 hours to dismiss these ministers as well. Ramaphosa did not.
Read more: DA withdraws from National Dialogue, will vote against budgets of ‘corruption accused’ ANC ministers
On Saturday, 28 June, the DA announced that it was withdrawing from Ramaphosa’s national dialogue and also said it will vote against the budgets of departments headed up by ministers they believe Ramaphosa should remove from his Cabinet. DM