ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli. (Photo: Gallo Images / Darren Stewart) 
By Wednesday evening, the country will have a Budget, says African National Congress (ANC) parliamentary chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli as the Government of National Unity (GNU) sorts out the last wrinkles before the Appropriation Bill vote in the National Assembly on 23 July.
“I think at the moment, as we go to bed today, I would say we are 99% in agreement in the GNU – that’s including the DA. And there are still a few concerns that we’re going to discuss this evening and early tomorrow,” Ntuli told Daily Maverick on Tuesday afternoon.
“But I don’t think those concerns are of such a nature that it will be difficult to reach an agreement.”
“So from where I’m standing, I think the country will go to bed tomorrow with a Budget that has been passed.”
Ntuli was speaking shortly after the DA announced it would support the Appropriation Bill, which sets out spending allocations for all government departments.
For the Bill to pass, every department’s budget vote needs to be passed. It needs 201 out of 400 MPs to support the Bill.
The DA – the second-biggest party in the GNU and the country – had threatened to withdraw its support for departmental budget votes unless “corruption-accused” ministers Thembi Simelane (Human Settlements) and Nobuhle Nkabane (Higher Education) were removed.
The ultimatum was made in retaliation for the firing of Andrew Whitfield, former deputy minister of trade, industry and competition. President Cyril Ramaphosa fired Nkabane on Monday evening.
On Tuesday afternoon, following a DA parliamentary caucus meeting, party leader and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen said the party would vote in support of the Bill, “in the national interest”.
Read more: DA to support Appropriation Bill ‘in the national interest’ after Nkabane axed
“The Democratic Alliance will support the 2024/25 Appropriation Bill following the President’s decision to dismiss Minister Nkabane after sustained DA pressure. This decision is the crucial first step in holding compromised ministers accountable,” read Steenhuisen’s statement.
The ANC and DA are the two biggest parties in the National Assembly, with 159 and 87 seats respectively. Combined with the other eight parties in the GNU, it should have 287 votes in support of the Bill.
Budget the primary concern
Commenting on Steenhuisen’s statement, Ntuli said, “Well, I think, for me, the good thing is that they’re going to support the Budget tomorrow.”
Asked about possible challenges within the GNU, he said, “We will have to deal with it as it comes, but what has been my [primary] concern, as the chief of the ANC, is whether or not the country, as I said, tomorrow will conclude that with or without a Budget.”
Ntuli said that while it appeared the DA was “coming on board conditionally”, any issues could be dealt with after the Appropriation Bill was passed.
“It’s fine as long as we pass the same in the first Budget approval; we can deal with what happened afterwards.”
Speaking about Wednesday’s sitting, Ntuli implored all political parties “to think about the national interest, to recognise the fact that we certainly come from different political persuasions, different political parties, but that must never stand in our way of acting in the best interest of our country, because we have no alternatives except South Africa”.
“If we mess up with South Africa, where do we go?”
“National interest” was also the terminology used by Steenhuisen on why the DA would support the Appropriation Bill, even though Ramaphosa has retained Simelane.
Ntuli said, “These public representatives have a much … bigger responsibility than ordinary citizens, who have entrusted them with their confidence and vote that they will always act in the best interest of the same people who voted for them.”
MK motion ‘won’t pass’
Also on Tuesday, the official opposition uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party announced that it had tabled a motion of no confidence in Ramaphosa over myriad issues, including the continued fallout from KwaZulu-Natal’s Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s allegations, high unemployment and what the party calls his “inability to effectively govern the country due to severe instability in government and political expediency in retaining compromised ministers”.
Read more: MPs recommend that ad hoc committee probes Mkhwanazi’s allegations within 90 days
In response, Ntuli said he did not think the motion would pass.
“The formation of the MK itself was as a consequence of a personal grievance by Jacob Zuma, and he has an extraordinary hatred towards Ramaphosa.”
He said the no-confidence motion wouldn’t be the MK party’s last.
He said he believed the MK party, which had 59 seats, “wanted to take advantage of what was … perceived to be a serious tension between the ANC and the DA following the decision of the President, who sacked the [DA’s] deputy minister [Andrew] Whitfield”.
Ntuli said the MK party hoped to take advantage of any DA dissatisfaction in the hope of that party siding with uMkhonto Wesizwe.
“But it’s not going to pass. I don’t think that they would have numbers in Parliament to support that motion.” DM