The EFF and the DA have called for communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams to be removed from the cabinet for contravening the lockdown rules

The parties believe that the decision to place Ndabeni-Abrahams on two-months special leave is a slap on the wrist.

“Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams must be removed from cabinet if the integrity of this national lockdown is to be maintained and the rule of law is to be taken seriously,” EFF spokesperson Vuyani Pambo in a statement.

“There is no logical explanation for her to b treated with kid gloves while the masses of our people are subjected to the full might of the law.”

Pambo also announced that the EFF would today be laying criminal charges against Ndabeni-Abrahams for breaching lockdown regulations as stipulated by government at the Douglasdale Police Station, Sandton.

DA’s Phumzile van Damme however believes that president Ramaphosa should be the one who lays charges against his minister.

“Should President Ramaphosa not lay the criminal complaint, he should at the very least address the nation together with the minister of police and the national police commissioner to assure the nation that SAPS will indeed act against Ndabeni-Abraham,” she said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa summoned Ndabeni-Abrahams and effectively placed her on a two-months leave, one of which is unpaid, and directed her to apologise after a picture of her lunching with ANC NEC member Mduduzi Manana emerged on social media while the country is under strict lockdown rules that prohibits unnecessary visitations.

EFF’s Pambo said they were also calling for an investigation into claims by Manana that Ndabeni-Abrahams’s visit to his home was related to the fight against coronavirus.

Manana, through his foundation, claimed that Ndabeni-Abrahams was there to collect protective equipment. It appears Ramaphosa also did not accept this reasoning.

“It is concerning that a sitting minister can be summoned to a home of an individual for donations while there are existing structures and mechanisms that coordinate donor efforts towards combating Covid-19,” Pambo said.

The ANC however welcomed the decision to place Ndabeni-Abrahams on special leave and said that the message to stay at home was meant for everyone.

“The ANC calls on all its deployees and the rest of society to respect and abide by the letter and spirit of all lockdown regulations in order to effectively disrupt chain of transmission occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic,” ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said.