Motion of No Confidence: ANC, this is your opportunity to do the right thing

Tomorrow’s Motion of No Confidence, in terms of Section 102 of the Constitution, presents the National Assembly’s 400 Members, elected to serve and represent the people, with a choice between President Jacob Zuma’s continued stranglehold on the country’s Constitutional Democracy or the development of South Africa and her people.

The choice between Jacob Zuma and South Africa is both simple and profound. President Zuma’s brand of corruption, economic mismanagement and lies can no longer continue to exist alongside the project of building a better South Africa for all.

In describing the function and impact of a Motion of No Confidence, former Deputy Chief Justice, Dikgang Moseneke, stated that:

“In the first instance, the Assembly is elected to represent the people and to ensure government by the people under the Constitution. A motion of no confidence in the President is a vital tool to advance our democratic hygiene. It affords the Assembly a vital power and duty to scrutinise and oversee executive action.

The Constitution does not set a time or preconditions for when the Assembly may vote on a motion of no confidence in the President. The ever present possibility of a motion of no confidence against the President and the Cabinet is meant to keep the President accountable to the Assembly which elects her or him.”

To label Thursday’s Motion of No Confidence as “frivolous” is to undermine the Executive Oversight Authority of the National Assembly and it shows a narrow understanding of the Constitution.

Furthermore, the issue of President Zuma is not matter for Luthuli House to deal with internally, because the only House with a constitutional mandate and responsibility to act is the National Assembly. It is therefore incumbent upon the National Assembly’s ANC Members, who derive their mandate from the people and Constitution, to act in terms of the highest law in the land and to respond to the calls of the people for President Zuma to be removed from office.

As the Democratic Alliance, we are not asking for a change of Party, that will be for the people to decide on in 2019. Our call now is to ensure that the Office of the President is occupied by a woman or man who respects the office and the laws of the land.

Thursday’s Motion of No Confidence presents the ANC with an opportunity to show that it is the listening and humble organisation it proclaims to be.

Statement issued by Mmusi Maimane MP, Leader of the Democratic Alliance, 9 November 2016