We have defeated forces of darkness - ANC

Cape Town – Hundreds of ANC supporters, mostly students and pupils in school uniform, celebrated the defeat of the motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma on Thursday.

The supporters were addressed by ministers Nathi Mthethwa and Nomvula Mokonyane, as well as ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte in a mini-rally outside Parliament.

The ministers slammed opposition parties for the "opportunistic" motion, taking turns in lashing out at DA leader Mmusi Maimane, EFF leader Julius Malema and Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota.

Duarte said they had defeated the forces of darkness on Thursday.

"We fought for this country, we will keep this country in our hands. It will not be owned by the backward DA. And it will not be owned by the Lekotas," she said.

Mokonyane said the ANC was the future, and no one could stop the party.

"Run Julius, run Maimane. Forward Msholozi, forward," she said.

Following the defeat of the motion, the ANC in Parliament said the party would never associate itself with a motion "based on concocted fabrications [rather] than substantive facts".

‘Protecting the corrupt’

Motions of no confidence were part of the DA's political programme, chief whip Jackson Mthembu's office said.

"In the last two and half years alone Parliament has had to entertain seven similar motions. As and when such motions are processed, crucial issues relating to service delivery to the people and improving their material conditions are relegated to the bottom most of the agenda of Parliament."

Maimane bemoaned the ANC MPs' decision to vote against the motion.

"They have chosen to sustain in office a president whose corruption is robbing our country of its massive potential and bright future."

They had hoped the ANC would do the right thing, he said, and vote with their consciences.

"But we knew that was unlikely. If they would not support us in ending the corruption of Jacob Zuma, as they could have done, then it was important for the public to see for themselves how far the ANC has fallen."

He said the party had proven again that they would protect the corrupt and place their own interests over the country.

"The ANC cannot be separated from Jacob Zuma. He is a symptom, not a cause. The ANC is Zuma, and he is the ANC."

This article first appeared on News24