Speaker Thoko Didiza rejects EFF and DA request to withdraw budget report

This comes after TimesLIVE reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa had called out the DA for “defining itself out of the GNU” during an ANC caucus meeting on Tuesday night.

Ramaphosa told the party’s parliamentarians the DA had locked itself into an unenviable position by rejecting the budget.

“You must not interrupt your adversary as they are making a mistake, and they can see they put themselves into a cul-de-sac. It is the most unpleasant position they have put themselves into.”

Ramaphosa said he had spoken to DA leader John Steenhuisen on Tuesday afternoon, who asked him: “Where do we go now?”

“I said, the ball is entirely in your court. He asked if the ANC says we should leave the GNU. I said the ball is on your court. You have put yourself in this position, so you need to work your way out. You took a decision in the committee. That was the choice you made.”

Nolutshungu said the issue of the record is of utmost importance. She said the official recording and minutes of the meeting will confirm that the committee chairperson, Joe Maswanganyi, did not table a question to the committee or formulate the resolution on whether the fiscal framework is accepted or amended.

She said instead, members were simply asked to vote on the adoption of the report, which was a procedural motion that cannot substitute the legal requirement for a clear, prior resolution on the fiscal framework itself.

“This evidentiary failure renders the report procedurally defective and vulnerable to legal challenge. This sequencing violates the law. The “clear statement” required by Section 8(4) must form part of the report before its adoption, it cannot be inserted post-factum on the assumption that the absence of amendments equates to support. Such a practice opens the door to administrative abuse, misrepresentation of committee decisions and illegality,” Nolutshungu said.

TimesLIVE