Ramaphosa: If I'm Fired, I Will Still Serve SA

Ramaphosa was answering questions in parliament when Economic Freedom Fighters member Floyd Shivambu asked if he would be removed by President Jacob Zuma.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa (L) and President Jacob Zuma listen to the national anthem at the opening of Parliament in Cape Town, February 11, 2016.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa (L) and President Jacob Zuma listen to the national anthem at the opening of Parliament in Cape Town, February 11, 2016.
Mike Hutchings / Reuters

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says if he is removed from his position in government, he will continue serving South Africa in different ways.

Ramaphosa was answering questions in Parliament, when Economic Freedom Fighters MP Floyd Shivambu asked if he would be removed by President Jacob Zuma.

"I must tell you that when I was appointed as deputy president, I accepted the appointment because it is the president's prerogative to appoint or to remove anybody on the executive... and if the decision is to remove me, I will accept that as a decision that will be taken by the president and I will continue serving the people of South Africa in one form, shape or another," Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa again made reference to claims that the president was seeking to have him sacked when responding to questions from the Democratic Alliance's Natasha Mazzone.

If the decision is to remove me, I will accept that as a decision that will be taken by the president and I will continue serving the people of South Africa.

Mazzone asked if Ramaphosa believed Public Enterprises boss Lynne Brown should be fired.

"Brown, like me, is appointed at the pleasure of the president. I am appointed and so if I were to be fired, it would be at the pleasure of the president. Anything that could happen to Brown would also be at the pleasure of the president," he said.

"I would like to suggest that you pose that question to the president who does all these firings and all these appointments by himself."

In an interview with eNCA, James Motlatsi, Ramaphosa's close confidant, said Zuma intended on using an "intelligence report" to justify Ramaphosa's removal from government -- the same tactic that was used to remove former finance minister and Zuma critic, Pravin Gordhan.

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