ANC MPs must vote with their conscience, secret ballot or no secret ballot

15 May 2017

Fellow South Africans,

We are gathered together here outside the Constitutional Court today to defend our freedom.

The future of our country lies in the hands of 400 Members of Parliament who have sworn to be faithful to the Republic of South Africa.

Very soon, that oath of office will be put to the test.

Very soon, ANC Members of Parliament will have to choose between what is best for themselves and what is best for South Africa.

Because very soon, the 400 Members of the National Assembly will be voting on a Motion of No Confidence in President Jacob Zuma. (Or perhaps 399 members now that Brian Molefe is back at Eskom.)

They did not swear to be faithful to Jacob Zuma, or to the ANC, or to the Guptas. They promised to be faithful to South Africa, and to the Constitution.

And this is all we ask of them today. We ask them to put South Africa first. No more, no less.

No matter what the Constitutional Court decides today – secret ballot or not - all we ask is that Members of Parliament vote with their conscience.

ANC MPs should not need a secret ballot to do the right thing. They should do it, no matter what.

My vote is not a secret. I will shout it from every rooftop - we will be voting President Zuma out. Every person who loves our country, we call on you to do the same.

We are not gathered here to plead for a secret ballot.

We are not gathered here to influence the court in its decision.

We are gathered here to urge ANC Members of Parliament to do the right thing, even if it is hard.

Many ANC MPs have spoken out against Zuma at meetings. They have spoken out in the media. They have spoken out on the streets. Now it is time to speak out in the only place it cant really count: in Parliament.

Every ANC MP who is considering voting for South Africa, we want you to know that you are not alone. The whole country is with you.

The future of our beloved country should not rest on the question of a secret ballot.

It should rest on the willingness of all Members of Parliament to do the honourable thing and put South Africa first.

The future should not be decided in Luthuli House or in Saxonwold. It should be decided in Parliament.

The choice that MPs face is simple:
Are they going to side with a President who has sold our country to the Guptas?

A President who used R250 million of our money on building his palace of corruption?

A President who was found by the Constitutional Court to have violated his oath of office?

Are they going to side with a President who has reduced our country to junk status?

A President under whose watch the economy has stagnated and 9 million South Africans are without work?

Or…are they going to side with the people of South Africa?

Both Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe have called on ANC MPs to vote with their conscience.

And we are here today to do the same. Secret ballot or no secret ballot.

The National Assembly is meant to be the voice of the people. Not the voice of the President. Not the voice of the ANC. Not the voice of the Guptas. But the voice of the people.

And the people say: We want a free South Africa. Not one that has been sold to the highest bidder. We don’t want to be slaves in the Kingdom of Gupta.

We want to be free South Africans in a free South Africa.

A South Africa in which those entrusted with power do the right thing, even when it is hard.

Issued by Mmusi Maimane, Leader of the Democratic Alliance, 15 May 2017