Speaker agrees to publish DA motion to impeach Zuma
19 August 2015
Yesterday, after weeks of delayed responses, deliberate misapplication of the sub judice rule and subsequent legal action, the Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Baleka Mbete, has finally conceded and agreed to publish our motion to establish an ad hoc committee to investigate a charge of impeachment against President Zuma.
The charge is based on the violation of both international and domestic law by the government when it facilitated Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s escape from South Africa earlier this year.
Considering the matter’s critical nature, we will in tomorrow’s National Assembly Programme Committee meeting push to have the motion debated in the NA next week.
Parliament has repeatedly blocked various questions and requests regarding the Executive’s role in Al-Bashir’s escape from South Africa on 15 June using the sub judice rule despite it having no bearing on the matter. The attempt to do so in order to protect President Zuma for answering for his role in this unlawful activity.
Indeed, earlier this year the Pretoria High Court ruled on the matter and embarrassingly found that the state’s failure to comply with the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court and the obligation to detain al-Bashir, was inconsistent with the Constitution.
As a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, enacted into domestic law through the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act of 2002, the South African government had a legal obligation under both international and domestic law to arrest Al-Bashir.
Al-Bashir’s state-aided escape represent a clear violation of President Zuma's oath to "obey, observe, uphold and maintain the Constitution and all other law of the Republic," and serve as nothing less than grounds for his removal from office in terms of section 89(1)(a) of the Constitution.
The DA believes in the supremacy of the Constitution and respect for the Rule of Law as the bedrock of our democratic state. However under President Zuma we have seen a degradation of the principle of the separation of powers, with the Executive showing an increased disdain for the Judiciary and the Legislative branch.
Our motion will require a third of the NA’s support to pass. We call on all members of the NA to uphold our country’s constitutional principles and lend their votes.
Statement issued by John Steenhuisen MP, Democratic Alliance Chief Whip, August 19 2015
