Johannesburg - The spotlight is on President Jacob Zuma today, with the spy tapes saga being battled out in the high court in Pretoria, and Parliament debating a motion of no confidence in him.
And while the DA, which brought both the court case and raised the vote of no confidence issue, reiterated on Tuesday morning that Zuma was “unfit to lead” South Africa, the ANC maintained its support for the president.
Read: ANC’s confidence in Zuma ‘unshaken’
Also read: Decision to drop charges against Zuma ‘rational’
In a tweet at 8am, DA leader Mmusi Maimane wrote that Zuma was “unfit to lead SA”, saying: “It’s not out of hate, but out of love for this beautiful country & her people.”
The DA is challenging then acting National Prosecuting Authority head Mokotedi Mpshe’s decision to withdraw 738 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering against Zuma in 1999.
At the same time, it is questioning his fitness to hold office regarding his decision to change finance ministers in December.
“A motion of no confidence is the best mechanism to ensure that President Zuma is removed from the presidency.
Read: Zuma in damage control mode: DA
“Further, our online petition supporting the motion and our call for all 72 ministers and deputy ministers to be excluded from the vote on the motion due to the glaring conflict of interest between their official responsibilities and their private interests has over 15 000 signatures,” DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said.
But while the DA insists Mpshe’s decision was irrational, the presidency defended it in a statement late on Monday night, saying: “The NDPP (National Director of Public Prosecutions) was rationally derived at, as evidenced by the reasons advanced and accordingly, will withstand any scrutiny.”
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa also weighed in on the matter on Tuesday morning, saying the ANC “has full confidence in President Jacob Zuma to lead South Africa as the country’s president”.
“Today, South Africans will once again be subjected to the frivolous antics and theatrics of the DA cloaked as democracy in the form of a motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma debate.
“This stunt follows a long line of similar fruitless and diversionary stunts the South African people have had to endure from the DA since the days of then-opposition leader in Parliament, Lindiwe Mazibuko,” Kodwa said.
He said Maimane “has nothing new to offer except to continue this trend, which always ends with humiliating consequences for the DA and the majority of members of parliament reaffirming full faith in President Zuma’s stewardship”, said Kodwa.
Kodwa said the DA knows it “lacks superior arguments” to convince Parliament and the South African people that Zuma is not fit to lead, hence they would resort to desperate and unconstitutional measures by seeking to deny members of the executive the right to participate in the debate.
“It is their hope that they can use ANC members, through the touted secret ballot, to bolster their non-existent arguments against President Zuma.
“The African National Congress has full confidence in President Jacob Zuma to lead South Africa as the country’s president,” he said.
“We will once again use the opportunity of the debate in Parliament to reaffirm our unwavering support to President Zuma’s capacity to implement the National Development Plan, a sterling hallmark of his legacy - conceptualised by him to provide our nation with a long-term and coherent plan to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality,” he added.
Kodwa said the ANC “will use the occasion” to once again remind the DA that it has been during Zuma’s tenure at the helm of this country that “we have seen our people living longer” due to, among other measures, the government’s HIV-treatment programme, which is the largest and the most comprehensive in the world.
“We will take great pride in expatiating on the recognition and respect that President Zuma commands at a continental and global level as evidenced by his successes in conflict resolution and peacekeeping on the continent,” said Kodwa.
Zuma’s appointment as the co-chair of the UN's High-Level Commission on Health, Employment and Economic Growth along with France’s President Francois Hollande “speaks to the international community’s confidence in President Zuma’s ability to deal with matters that are of critical importance to the working-class people of the world and humanity in general”, he said.
African News Agency