PETER BRUCE: Steenhuisen massages figures after painful surrender
What really happened in last year’s election was the vote for corruption, unemployment and low growth was split
After the sacking of former trade, industry & competition deputy minister Andrew Whitfield (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2025-06-26-cyril-ramaphosa-fires-da-deputy-minister-of-trade-andrew-whitfield/) for unauthorised travel last week, DA leader John Steenhuisen was all thunder and lightning when he gave President Cyril Ramaphosa just 48 hours (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2025-06-26-da-issues-ultimatum-over-axing-of-andrew-whitfield/) to fire a string of errant ANC ministers or suffer the consequences of “the greatest political mistake in modern SA history”.
Amazingly, words still mean something to South Africans, and for a moment there he held the country in his hands. Ramaphosa, who was never going to respond to the ultimatum (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2025-06-27-president-will-not-abide-ultimatums-and-threats-by-da-says-ramaphosa/), even cancelled a trip abroad in the expectation — shared quite reasonably by anyone who had watc...
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