Ramaphosa: Zuma doesn't have to explain suspicious cabinet reshuffles

President Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken out about the North Gauteng High Court judgment, ordering former president Jacob Zuma to explain the reasons behind his decision to fire former Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas.

According to The Star Late Edition, Judge Bashier Vally's ruling was seen by Ramaphosa as usurping Parliament's power.

Ramaphosa stands by Zuma in DA bid to force former president to talk This is the stance Ramaphosa took in his submission to the Constitutional Court, where he stressed that this would set a precedent for future court challenges against Cabinet reshuffles.

After his appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) was dismissed, he is looking to the Constitutional Court to lift the order that would compel Zuma to give the DA the full record of his decision and reasons for relieving Gordhan and Jonas.

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The country went into an uproar after the former president replaced them with Malusi Gigaba as Minister of FInance and Sfiso Buthelezi as his deputy.

The matter was contested by opposition parties and Zuma, at the time, was forced to appeal the case to the SCA. However, he did not get the opportunity to explore that further, since in February he was replaced by Ramaphosa as the president, three months before the courts would've heard the matter.

Ramaphosa may make amendments to Rule 53 Ramaphosa elected his own Cabinet, reinstating Nhlanhla Nene into the position of Minister of Finance and Mondli Gungubele as his deputy. Gordhan returned to Cabinet as Minister of Public Enterprises, while Jonas cancelled his ANC membership and opted to leave parliament.

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Furthermore, The Star reported that

the DA later said that it considered the SCA appeal moot and Ramaphosa said he was not of the view that the matter was moot as it concerned a discreet and live matter.

Ramaphosa contended that the SCA ought to still hear the appeal in respect of the discreet issue of the applicability of Rule 53 and the furnishing of the record in executive decisions like Cabinet reshuffles.

In his ruling, Judge Vally had found that Zuma had contravened Rule 53 of the Uniform Rules of Court. This rule particularly deals with reviews, a tool which the DA had intended to use to access documents and electronic records that pertain to the controversial decision Zuma made.

The matter will be heard once again in court in February 2019.

Tags: Cyril RamaphosaDemocratic AllianceJacob Zuma

LINK:	https://www.thesouthafrican.com/ramaphosa-zuma-suspicious-cabinet-resh...
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