PARLIAMENT, April 5 (ANA) – A special sitting of Parliament has been scheduled for April 18 for a vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma.
Speaker Baleka Mbete, through a statement from Parliament, confirmed she received letters from several opposition parties calling for a “motion of no confidence in the President of the Republic in terms of Section 102 of the Constitution”.
Last week, Mbete indicated she would embark on a consultation process before deciding whether the motion would go ahead.
“The Speaker’s consultation process, therefore, followed these specific provisions in the Constitution and the [National] Assembly Rules, taking into consideration the urgency of the matter and the reality that Members of Parliament are currently working in their constituencies across the country,” the statement said.
“Following the consultation process, the Motion will be scheduled for debate in the National Assembly on Tuesday, 18 April 2017, at 14h00.”
Meanwhile, the ANC said no African National Congress (ANC) MPs will vote with opposition parties and impeach President Jacob Zuma in Parliament, said ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe.
“That would be uncharacteristic of the ANC really. We have a party political system…there will be no such a thing as motion of no confidence in the president. There will be no ANC member who will vote for a motion from the opposition…no self respecting army would allow to be commanded by the enemy,” Mantashe said.
This came as opposition parties, civic society and ANC veterans, its alliance partners Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and South African Communist Party called for Zuma to resign.
The leaders of the opposition parties said they would do everything to have Zuma removed from office. This included mass mobilisation and protests, court actions and a motion of no confidence tabled by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliament. The opposition parties said ANC MPs should introspect “and choose Zuma and the Guptas or the people”.
Last week, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema said that his party would support the motion of no confidence against Zuma, and that the EFF had the support of some of the ANC top leaders.
He added that work was underway to woe ANC MPs who would be approached individually, in a collaborative effort along with the opposition parties to sway the vote against Zuma.
– African News Agency (ANA)
