Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said President Cyril Ramaphosa has 48 hours to fire Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane, Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane and Member of National Assembly David Mahlobo, following the sudden removal of its own Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Andrew Whitfield.

Steenhuisen warned that if the African National Congress (ANC) failed to meet the demands, it would result in grave consequences for South Africa.

“Make no mistake about it: what happens next is entirely on the ANC and President Ramaphosa. They did not have to do this. They triggered all of the events that follow.

Should the ANC fail to meet our ultimatum, all bets are off and the consequences will be theirs to bear,” stated Steenhuisen.

He said shortly before Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, Ramaphosa informed him of his intention to remove Whitfield as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, after which Steenhuisen said he requested 24 hours to speak to Whitfield and his party.

“However, before I could even do so, just three hours later, Whitfield received a letter informing him of his removal. The apparent reason for this sudden and ill-considered decision is that Whitfield did not obtain permission to travel abroad earlier this year,” Steenhuisen said.

He described this as flimsy reasoning.

Whitfield wrote to Ramaphosa in February, requesting permission to travel to the US, as required by the Ministerial Handbook, however ten days later, he had still not received any response from the Presidency, and departed on the trip, Steenhuisen revealed.

He said Whitfield subsequently wrote to Ramaphosa to apologise if it caused offence, again he received no response, he added.

“Then yesterday, months after the incident and without a further word on it, the President unilaterally removed a DA Deputy Minister without even giving his largest coalition partner the courtesy of discussing the issue. According to the President’s spokesperson, this move is also not part of a broader reshuffle,” he noted.

Steenhuisen claimed that there was no other conclusion to be drawn than that this was a “calculated political assault” on the second-largest party in the governing coalition.

“To make matters even worse, this drastic unilateral action appears to be the product of a flagrant double standard,” he stated.

He noted that while a DA Deputy Minister was removed for not getting a response to seeking permission to travel, Simelane remains in Cabinet despite being implicated in the VBS lotting.

“Nobuhle Nkabane remains in Cabinet despite apparently misleading Parliament over an attempt to deploy corrupt cadres to SETA boards. Serial underperformers, as well as people implicated in State capture, continue to sit around the Cabinet table. Instead of being summarily fired, Simelane was merely asked to submit a ‘report’ on the allegations against her to the President and moved to another portfolio,” Steenhuisen said.

He also noted Mahlobo, who is implicated in corruption by the State capture commission.

The DA's Federal Executive will convene an urgent meeting on Thursday following Whitfield's axing.

DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said the party would give further comment after its federal meeting.