President Cyril Ramaphosa fired Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane, who is facing accusations that she misled parliament, eight days after he suspended a close cabinet ally for allegedly meddling in a murder probe.

Buti Manamela will replace Nkabane, the presidency said in a statement on Monday, without providing reasons for the change. Nomusa Dube-Ncube was appointed deputy higher education minister, a post previously held by Manamela.

The move follows Ramaphosa’s July 13 suspension of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu over explosive allegations that he sabotaged an investigation into political assassinations. Both he and Nkabane have denied any wrongdoing.

Ramaphosa has faced mounting calls to act against colleagues suspected of wrongdoing and show South Africa has emerged from the shadow of former President Jacob Zuma’s almost nine-year rule, when members of his African National Congress were deeply implicated in corruption.

The Democratic Alliance – the second-largest party in the so-called government of national unity after the ANC — laid charges against Nkabane on July 1, accusing her of making false claims over appointments to industrial training boards.

It laid separate charges against Mchunu, a close ally of the president who helped him become leader of the ANC in 2017 and ultimately head of Africa’s most industrialized nation and against Human Settlements Minister Thembisile Simelane, alleging that she defrauded state power utility Eskom Holdings.

It also threatened to vote against budget allocations to some government departments on Wednesday, including Higher Education and Human Settlements, unless action was taken against the ministers. A move that may have prevented the passage of the Appropriation Bill, which facilitates the allocation of funds.

“The president’s dismissal of Nkabane is a step in the right direction and the DA will now support the departmental budget on Higher Education,” DA spokesperson Willie Aucamp said by phone from Johannesburg. “Our caucus has still to meet and decide if the party will support the Department of Human Settlements’ budget.”

Ramaphosa formed the 10-party GNU with the business-friendly DA and other rivals after last year’s parliamentary elections failed to produce an outright winner. Investors are counting on it to deliver reforms to boost anaemic economic growth.