ANC, EFF gang up on Zille over spy saga

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille Picture: Tracey Adams

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille Picture: Tracey Adams

Published Dec 1, 2015

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Cape Town - The stage is set for a potentially explosive sitting of the Western Cape legislature on Tuesday, as the ANC moves ahead with its motion to have Premier Helen Zille removed from office, a move the EFF will back.

The ANC embarked on its #ZilleMustFall campaign last Thursday, with the leader of the official opposition Marius Fransman calling for Zille to resign over the unfolding “spy saga”.

Despite almost certain failure – the DA enjoys an outright majority in the legislature – the ANC will bring the motion to impeach Zille on Tuesday.

The ANC alleged in the house last week that Zille had hired Paul Scheepers, a senior police crime intelligence officer, in his private capacity to spy on the ANC and her own members; a claim the premier has denied.

“There was absolutely no spying on anyone. The services were only procured to secure cellphones against spying by anyone,” Zille told the house last week.

The DA has launched a counter-offensive, with provincial leader Patricia de Lille set to lead a march on the ANC’s provincial headquarters at Sahara House on Tuesday.

The party said it wants to highlight the ANC’s “cosy relations with gangsters” and the ANC’s “programme to undermine the fight against crime in the Western Cape”.

Meanwhile, DA MPLs were unfazed by the motion to impeach Zille, with chief whip Mark Wiley stressing that there was “absolutely no substance” to the ANC’s claims.

“This should be an interesting debate and there might even be a few surprises for Fransman, who knows full well that he can’t succeed in a motion of this nature. He is just wanting to try to catch the media headlines based on the allegations he made. We really look forward to the debate because maybe there’s going to be a little more revealed about Fransman,” he said.

However, Fransman believes there are legal grounds to have Zille removed.

“The ANC will debate this matter today and will move for the legislature to kick her out. It is clear that she is not fit to proceed as premier, that she transgressed laws and that her misconduct in the whole spy saga is so serious that Zille must fall.”

EFF MPL Bernard Joseph said the EFF would back the motion to impeach Zille.

Joseph said the spy saga came as no surprise: “As an ex-employee of the provincial government, on many occasions, I alerted my peers at that stage, that I had a sense that our telephonic discussions are being recorded,” he said.

ACDP MPL Ferlon Christians said they would not support the motion to impeach based on the information the ANC provided on Thursday

.

“The debate is unrealistic because the ANC don’t have the necessary numbers to remove the premier.”

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Cape Argus

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