The African National Congress (ANC) has agreed to a request by opposition parties for a parliamentary debate of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma but insists that the debate be held in February.
The ANC is committed to ” robust, open and free multiparty debates” however, in view of MPs’ commitments until December 7, and to avoid the financial burden of calling MPs back to a special sitting, and because of the importance of the matter, it wants the debate in the National Assembly to be scheduled for the week of February 26, says the party in a statement released by the Office of the Chief Whip of the ANC, Dr Mathole Motshekga.
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“This position does not seek to pre-empt or interfere with the court process that is currently underway, but to correct the inaccurate view that the Majority Party is not keen on debating this motion,” says the statement in a reference to a matter before the Western Cape High Court in which the Democratic Alliance Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko has asked the court to force the ANC to schedule a debate before Parliament goes into recess. A court ruling is expected tomorrow.
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Mazibuko brought the motion for a no-confidence debate to the House on November 8. The motion was tabled by the DA, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), the Congress of the People (COPE), the Azanian People’s Organisation, the Freedom Front Plus, the United Christian Democratic Party and the United Democratic Movement.
The opposition parties’ grounds for the motion are that under Zuma’s leadership the justice system has been politicised and weakened; corruption has spiraled out of control; unemployment continues to increase, the economy is weakening, and the right of ac
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