Cabinet Reshuffle Review: DA in Court tomorrow to reveal Zuma’s reshuffle reasons

3 May 2017

The Democratic Alliance’s Federal Executive Chairperson, James Selfe MP, will be at the North Gauteng High Court tomorrow where the court will hear arguments in our urgent application to compel President Jacob Zuma to supply his record of decision for his disastrous midnight cabinet reshuffle.

On 5 April 2017, the DA filed an urgent application with the North Gauteng High court to request that President’s decision to remove Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, and Deputy Finance Minister, Mcebisi Jonas, be set aside on the grounds that it was irrational, and therefore unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid.

Every exercise of public power must be subject to the principles of legality and rationality, especially the exercise of all of the President’s powers, which includes decisions to appoint or dismiss Ministers and Deputy Ministers.

The President ought to have reasonably foreseen the dire consequences of this reshuffle, given what happened in 2015 when he fired then Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene.

The DA believes that the President’s decision should be set aside as it does not meet the requirements of rationality and is therefore illegal.

However, in order for his decision to be reviewed and according to Rule 53 of the Unified Rules of Court, the record of decision must be provided, as our urgent application seeks to achieve.

After numerous delaying tactics, President Zuma claimed that the DA, and indeed South Africa, is not entitled to the record and reasons for his reshuffle.

The President’s disingenuous refusal to explain himself forced the DA to file an urgent compelling application to force the President to hand over his reasons and all records pertaining to his reshuffle.

Issued by Democratic Alliance, 3 May 2017