WATCH: ‘Business will not dictate or influence decisions in ANC I lead,’ says Ramaphosa

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has stressed that decisions regarding the government of national unity (GNU) will be guided by careful analysis, not emotions or sectional interests, and that unelected groups won’t dictate to the ANC.

The GNU coalition government is on shaky ground after the DA and FF+  voted against Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s 2025 national budget in Parliament last week.

GNU

The DA has also launched a legal challenge against implementing the VAT hike.

Furious ANC NEC members are calling for the party to eject the DA and FF+ from the GNU after accusing them of “betraying them during the passing of the 2025 fiscal framework.”

Top business leaders have written to Ramaphosa and DA leader John Steenhuisen to keep the current GNU intact.

WATCH: ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa saying the ANC will not be dictated to

#ANC Ramaphosa: Business will not dictate or influence decisions in Government and the ANC that I lead. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/7JMIK28Uyp

— #LordOfTheMedia (@samkelemaseko) April 6, 2025

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‘ANC won’t be dictated to’

Speaking to journalists after an ANC branch general meeting in Soweto on Sunday, Ramaphosa said he was taking the concerns raised in the letter seriously.

“Business does not dictate what happens in government, in the ANC I lead. We take our own decisions based on our considerations of everything that will advance the interests of our people.

“I want to make it clear the ANC will not be influenced by what business says. We are principally influenced by what our people say,” Ramaphosa said.

No pressure

Ramaphosa added that they are not under pressure from business.

“If we are under any pressure, it is pressure that comes from our people and our people as a whole, not just ANC members. And the pressure that comes from our people is about poverty, inequality and unemployment and those are the issues that influence our decisions. And we have to heed what our people say,” Ramaphosa said.

Sanctions bill

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa also commented on US Congressman Ronny Jackson’s bill to sanction some senior ANC and government officials who support that country’s adversaries.

“South Africa has brazenly abandoned its relationship with the United States to align with China, Russia, Iran, and terrorist organizations, a betrayal that demands serious consequences,” Jackson claimed.

Ramaphosa said that as a sovereign country, the US was entitled to take any decisions it wanted to.

“These are matters that we are going to continue to be dealing with in a very responsible and a very proper manner. We are not a government that will act out of spite, and we are not a government that will act out of emotions. Everything that we do, we examine very carefully, and we look at the implications and the impact.”

Trump protests

However, Ramaphosa declined to comment on the anti-Trump demonstrations taking place in the US over the tariffs the US president imposed.

“We will not be opining on what happens in other countries, as we do not believe that it is correct for anybody to be opining on what happens in our own country. We don’t want to interfere. They must deal with their own challenges as we must deal with our own challenges,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa said South Africa is still examining the tariffs imposed on South Africa by the Trump administration.

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