DA’S MOTION TO REMOVE THE PRESIDENT, NONSENSICAL AND BASELESS

20 August 2015

The National Assembly’s Programming Committee (NAPC) today agreed to schedule a debate for the 1st of September on the DA’s proposed motion to remove the President of the Republic from office over allegations related to the matter involving President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan. It is important to state the fact that no Court of law has ever found the President guilty of transgressing the Constitution or the law.

The Speaker of the National Assembly had previously advised the DA that their motion was not based on any legal or Constitutional fact, as the matter regarding President AlBashir is still before the Court and judgment is pending on it. The DA did not heed this sensible and legally sound advise.

Therefore without any sound legal or constitutional basis to justify the motion, the debate becomes just ritualistic and academic. Parliament resolved to debate the motion merely because it purports to be a 'constitutional motion' which ought to be accorded a courtesy of a debate, as it expected of a multiparty democratic parliament that serves as a forum for debate on issues.

Of course the so-called motion of "impeachment" - a term not even recognized in our Constitution - does not comply with the requirements of the Constitution's section 89 which deals with the removal of the President. Generally, opposition motions regarding the removal of the President of the Republic, whether based on Section 89 or Section 102 of the Constitution, are subjected to a debate in the House after they are tabled by the sponsoring party, even though nothing would come out of them.

The ANC stands ready for this debate, to condemn this motion into the rubbish bin of history through superior and cogent arguments.

Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, August 20 2015