‘Only DA leader can ask me to step down’ – Macpherson hits back at Mashatile

Paul Mashatile

Cape Town – Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson has rejected calls for his resignation following ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s demand that he step down for refusing to implement government policies, particularly the Expropriation Bill.

Macpherson, a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), said that only his party leader has the authority to ask him to resign and reaffirmed his strong opposition to expropriation without compensation.

“I see the deputy president of the ANC did an interview today saying that if I’m not going to implement the land expropriation Bill then I should resign, there’s only one person who will tell me to resign from government that is the leader of the DA. 

“No other leader or no other member of another political party will tell me when or how I should resign,” the minister said. 

“It is that sort of arrogance that I think is unhelpful in the GNU and makes for unpleasant sort of encounters with one another we are all here to do a job.”

Mashatile, on Saturday,  called for the resignation of Macpherson after the minister opposed the newly signed Expropriation Bill.

President Cyril Ramaphosa officially signed the bill into law on Thursday.

The bill allows state agencies to expropriate property in the public interest, replacing the 1975 Expropriation Act.

Mashatile said that any minister unwilling to implement government policies should step down, emphasising that the laws of the land must be followed.

“If minister Macpherson doesn’t want to implement the law, he must resign, because it means he doesn’t belong there. We’re not going to allow any minister in government to do as they like. We are appointed by the president, we are accountable to the president, we implement the laws of the land. That’s it. There is no two ways about it.

“If he wants to raise his concerns, he must raise them with the president but no one should go out in public and and say ‘I’ll never implement the law. That we not going to allow,” Mashatile said.
He added: “The GNU is fine. It’s just trouble by some silly people. The GNU is fine. We are working very well. But from time to time, there are people who want to mess up and the president must deal with them decisively.
“We can’t allow this. It’s important that we focus on the programme we have agreed on as a governement of national unity and serve our people.”
The dispute has sparked tensions between the ANC and the DA, with DA leader John Steenhuisen accusing the ANC of disrespecting coalition partners and undermining trust within the Government of National Unity (GNU). The DA has threatened to challenge the Expropriation Bill in court.

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