Despite tensions between the two parties, the DA has reversed its threat to introduce a motion of no confidence against President Cyril Ramaphosa. DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille confirmed on Tuesday that her party would not be proceeding with the motion "for now", but emphasised that they would not be bullied by the ANC within the Government of National Unity (GNU).

Since the DA knows they can't afford to leave the GNU, experts have interpreted the leader's action as "grandstanding" and "seeking attention." Since the DA fired Trade and Industry deputy minister Andrew Whitfield last week, the ANC and DA have been at odds, and the DA announced that it would be leaving the National Dialogue. Following the DA's calls to fire Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane, the party has since accused Ramaphosa of having a double standard, claiming that he accepted corruption. The appointment of boards for Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) involves Nkabane.

The situation has been considered by political analysts, with some arguing that the DA is exaggerating with their threats. According to Professor Sipho Seepe, the DA is exaggerating and the market would quickly self-correct if the rand crashed. "The DA likes grandstanding. Yes, the rand may crash, but the market will quickly self-correct. "Having said this, the ANC is unlikely to kick the DA out of the GNU. The GNU is a big deal. Ramaphosa's presidency had been funded by a huge corporation. Ramaphosa is unlikely to bite the hand that feeds him," Seepe said. He stated that the DA would prefer to remain in power because it was so opposed to the ANC, EFF, and MK Party government.

"Besides, the decision to walk out of the GNU will be dictated by big business, not Helen Zille…The same applies to the idea of tabling the motion of no confidence… Such a step would leave the ANC with no option but to kick the DA out of this marriage of inconvenience. Seepe stated, "It is a risk that many in the DA would shun." Sandile Swana, another analyst, stated that Zille's reasons for remaining in the GNU were arbitrary and unsupported by evidence. "The DA has not been able to grow the economy by more than 2% in the Western Cape. They have lingered around 2% but it was required to grow at 5.4%. The DA has governed the Western Cape and Cape Town for some time. More than any other province in the nation, unemployment is rising in the metro area and the province.

"The DA and big business are using the GNU to prevent the MKP and the EFF from being part of the government," Swana said. He said that the EFF would join the GNU and continue working with Ramaphosa if an opportunity arose because they disagreed about how Ramaphosa handled the Phala Phala controversy. Zille stated that, despite the fact that the DA has the numbers to possibly outvote the president, they would rather take interim measures to address their concerns. "Many members of the ANC wish that the president would fire us from the GNU, and the president can fire us from the GNU." But here is the thing, if he fires us the rand will crash, the economy will go into a tailspin, investors will withdraw, unemployment will increase, and we will probably be pushed out of AGOA and tariffs will go up."

Zille, on the other hand, stated that this did not imply that her party would be subjected to intimidation from the ANC within the GNU and that they had a strategy in place in case Ramaphosa removed the DA from the GNU. "They (the ANC) want to do what we call a constructive dismissal of us, which is why they keep doing this repeatedly... We would have corruption on steroids and the MK Party (the uMkhonto weSizwe Party) or the EFF would come in, which would be a disaster. "The ANC would love it if we just walked out on our own and took the blame, but we are not going to do that… But we are not going to be treated like a doormat either," Zille said. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has warned the DA that Ramaphosa will not tolerate disrespect from deputy ministers.