Whitfield says Ramaphosa didn't justify removing him from Cabinet
Speaking on 702 Afternoon Drive with John Perlman, Andrew Whitfield said he believes the trip to the United States in March cost him his job.
FILE: Andrew Whitfield during his time as deputy minister of trade, industry and competition. Picture: @the_dtic/X
JOHANNESBURG - Axed Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister Andrew Whitfield said he was given no reason for his firing by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Speaking on 702 Afternoon Drive with John Perlman, Whitfield said he believes the trip to the United States in March cost him his job.
The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) US trip was fashioned as an attempt to stabilise diplomatic relations between the two countries
It also affirmed its position in opposing what it labelled as the African National Congress’s (ANC) divisive, race-based policies.
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Whitfield said he waited for the president’s response to his request.
"I assume it’s because I went to the united states, without the expressed permission of the president, despite that he had the letter for ten days, I have it on good authority that he was very aware of the letter, chose not to reply to the letter, either in the affirmative or the negative, I treated silence as consent," said Whitfield.
The now former trade deputy minister said after his trip to the US, other travel requests were rejected by Ramaphosa, including an opportunity to spend a week at Harvard.
"I even went so far as to write to the president to say I assume my trip in February is the cause of the decline of all of these requests. I said I apologise if I caused any discomfort, but I am not aware of that because I have not received any explanation. So, there were no intermediary efforts to resolve the matter," said Whitfield.