Former higher education minister Blade Nzimande says the signs for his removal were obvious, and he was not surprised that President Jacob Zuma fired him in his latest Cabinet reshuffle. Nzimande was interviewed by talk show host Karima Brown on Talk Radio 702 on Monday night.
Nzimande also alleged that Zuma did not let him see the report of the Fees Commission, and that he was trying to destroy the tripartite alliance.
According to 702, Zuma also announced that the Special Investigating Unit had been asked to investigate the Public Service Sector Education and Training -- seen as another attack on Nzimande.
According to Eyewitness News (EWN), Nzimande said: "One must respect how the president chooses to deal with that, but I just found it completely out of order and that's why I was not surprised that I was fired. All the signs were there."
Nzimande told Brown, "It would be good to ask the president why he did not give me the Fees Commission Report... After the report was given to the president, I was not consulted. I found it completely out of order."
He said the SA Communist Party (SACP) had been "provoked" before, under the administrations of former presidentsThabo Mbeki and Nelson Mandela.
"President Zuma is trying to provoke us, the SACP, to destroy the tripartite alliance," he said.
Nzimande said that Zuma would be a "non-factor" after December.