South Africa’s second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance, has issued an ultimatum: sack the minister or the coalition collapses. This is not a whisper in the corridor. It is a public execution order.
President Cyril Ramaphosa now faces a game of chicken with his own government. The DA controls 21% of parliament. Without them, Ramaphosa’s ANC loses its majority.
The trigger? Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza. Her crime?
Allowing a land expropriation bill that violates the coalition’s founding agreement. The DA says she must go within 48 hours. Party insiders tell me there is zero appetite for compromise.
They want a scalp. Ramaphosa’s team is scrambling. Leaks from the Union Buildings suggest a secret meeting with DA leader John Steenhuisen on Tuesday.
No details yet. But one senior ANC source muttered: “He cannot bend. The party radicals will eat him alive.
” The radicals are watching. The EFF, further left, would love to see Ramaphosa humiliated. They smell blood.
Polling data shows the ANC at 43% support. Losing the DA on a issue of principle could push them below 40%. That is disaster territory.
The DA knows this. They are betting Ramaphosa blinks first. But the president has a history of playing dead.
Remember the Nkandla scandal? He waited, and waited, and won. This time, the clock is ticking.
If Didiza survives a parliamentary motion of no confidence, the DA will withdraw from cabinet. That leaves Ramaphosa with a minority government, reliant on EFF votes to pass ANY legislation. The EFF will demand the moon.
Land grabs. Nationalisation. Collapse is not inevitable, but it is likely.
The game is on. Watch the Tuesday meeting. That is where the fate of South Africa’s coalition experiment will be decided.
