South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday dismissed his embattled higher education minister, weeks after a key party in his unity government filed criminal charges accusing her of lying to parliament.
Ramaphosa has faced mounting pressure in recent months as several ministers from his African National Congress (ANC) party have been accused of corruption, deepening tensions within the 10-party ruling coalition.
The second largest group in government, the Democratic Alliance (DA), earlier this month filed a complaint accusing Minister Nobuhle Nkabane of lying to parliament to cover up the “fraudulent” appointment of ANC-linked figures to education authority boards.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa has removed Dr Nobuhle Nkabane from the role of Minister and (sic) Higher Education and Training,” the presidency announced in a statement Monday night, after Nkabane failed to attend key parliamentary meetings where she was meant to clarify the controversial appointments.
The DA — which joined government after the ANC lost its majority last year due to voter disillusionment with corruption and mismanagement — has said graft had become “standard practice” under Ramaphosa’s rule.
It has also laid corruption charges against Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane over allegations of fraudulent billing to the national electricity supplier Eskom.
Ramaphosa also had to suspend his police minister on July 13, after bombshell accusations by a provincial police chief who alleged he had received payments from a corruption suspect and colluded with organised crime.
South Africa ranks 82nd in the world according to the corruption perception index of the NGO Transparency International.
