Johannesburg - The DA has said it will approach the courts to ensure its motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma is properly debated in Parliament.
On Sunday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane, Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille and Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga addressed the media after the party’s federal council meeting at the weekend.
Maimane announced that, as part of the DA's ongoing fight against state capture and corruption, it would once again launch the motion for debate in the next few days.
However, if the Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete tries to prevent the motion, the party would follow the same route as its former parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, in 2013, who went to the Constitutional Court after she was denied the opportunity to launch such a motion in 2012.
The top court ruled that “section 102(2) of the constitution confers on a member of the Assembly the entitlement to give notice of and have a motion of no confidence in the president tabled and voted on in the Assembly within a reasonable time”.
Maimane also confirmed that the party had been approaching ANC parliamentarians to vote against Zuma during the motion.
“We are asking them to vote with (their) conviction… This is not a DA motion, this is a South African issue. South Africans deserve better leadership,” he said. He was unwilling to say who he had approached.
Maimane said while ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu’s public comments about the party were an indication of the dissatisfaction, he said it would mean little if he did not vote against the president.
“The tipping point is fast approaching,” he warned.