President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed not to be distracted by political opposition or ongoing legal challenges as he defended his administration’s economic record during his reply to the Presidency Budget Vote 2026 debate in Parliament on Wednesday.
Speaking to the National Assembly, Ramaphosa addressed mounting tensions surrounding the Phala-Phala scandal while emphasising his government’s achievements in ending load shedding, attracting investment and creating employment opportunities.
The budget reply comes less than a month after the Constitutional Court ruled on 8 May that Parliament must establish an impeachment committee to probe allegations against the president. The court declared the December 2022 National Assembly vote unconstitutional, finding it had rejected recommendations to refer the independent panel report to an impeachment inquiry.
A 31-member impeachment committee, chaired by RISE Mzansi MP Makashule Gana, has since been established to investigate whether there are sufficient grounds for the president’s removal under Section 89 of the Constitution.
Ramaphosa has launched a parallel legal challenge in the Western Cape High Court to review and set aside the 2022 independent panel report, arguing that the panel misunderstood its mandate and the legal threshold required under Section 89.
During his parliamentary address, the president acknowledged the Section 89 process but insisted it would not derail government’s reform agenda.
Despite the political controversy, Ramaphosa devoted much of his speech to defending his government’s economic record.
“My approach to this matter is guided – as it has always been – by the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law,” Ramaphosa said. “The institutions of our democracy must be allowed to perform their work without interference and without intimidation.”
He dismissed calls for his resignation from opposition parties including the Economic Freedom Fighters and the MK Party as “political theatre” and “electoral posturing”.
“We are not distracted by the clamour of some political parties for attention. We will not be sidetracked by narrow agendas that have nothing to do with the needs, interests and concerns of the people of South Africa,” the president said.
Ramaphosa devoted much of his speech to outlining government achievements coordinated through the Presidency, including the end of load shedding after nearly two decades of power cuts that cost the economy billions of rands annually.
He said the Energy Action Plan, Eskom’s generation recovery programme and massive investment in renewable generation had “in effect brought load shedding to an end”.
The president also highlighted progress at Transnet, which registered its strongest cargo volume growth in 15 years during the last financial year after years of corruption and mismanagement.
On investment, Ramaphosa said R634 billion of the R1,5 trillion pledged over the first five years of the investment drive had already been invested in new factories, production lines, mines, renewable energy plants and data centres.
This year’s South Africa Investment Conference recorded the highest cumulative value of pledges to date, he said.
Addressing youth unemployment, the president said the Presidential Employment Stimulus had created work and livelihood opportunities for more than 2,5 million unemployed South Africans since its inception.
Last year, the Basic Education Employment Initiative provided work experience for nearly 200 000 young people in schools across the country.
The National Pathway Management Network has expanded to 5,7 million young people registered on the SA Youth mobi platform.
Ramaphosa said law enforcement agencies have recovered over R17 billion in State Capture-related cases, with the Special Investigating Unit recovering R1,3 billion in cash and assets in the past financial year alone.
The State Capture Commission estimated that more than R57 billion in public funds was lost through state capture.
On crime and violence, the president said the fight against organised crime, gun violence and gang warfare required “urgency, coordination and sustained effort” and could not be approached as a routine function of government.
He committed to establishing the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide “without delay” after several members reminded the House that the measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable.
With local government elections scheduled for five months’ time, Ramaphosa urged members of Parliament and all South Africans to rally behind the Independent Electoral Commission.
He defended the IEC as “one of our finest and most trusted institutions” after aspersions were cast on the electoral body by a member of the House.
ALSO READ: Government reports economic recovery and Madlanga Commission progress in Presidency budget speech
“Since the dawn of democracy in 1994, this country has held seven national and provincial elections and six local government elections. Without exception, all of them were declared free and fair,” he said.
The president said government continues to move forward in establishing a utility model for water and electricity services that allows these to be ring-fenced, professionally managed and able to invest in essential infrastructure.
“South Africans do not judge government by the speeches we make or the debates we have in this House. They judge us by whether they feel safe in their homes, whether they can find work, whether services are delivered, whether corruption is punished and whether their children can look to the future with hope,” Ramaphosa said.
“Those are the standards by which the Presidency wishes to be measured, and those are the outcomes towards which we direct all our efforts.”
The president concluded by rejecting “pessimism and cynicism” and calling on Parliament to work together to build “a South Africa that is growing, inclusive, prosperous and united”.
ALSO READ: ‘I will not resign’: Ramaphosa addresses nation after Phala Phala judgment
