THE official opposition Democratic Alliance has officially tabled a vote of no confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet.
The party’s leader John Steenhuisen made the announcement during the debate on Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address in parliament on Monday.
If the motion succeeds, the cabinet, with the except Ramaphosa, would have to be dissolved and a new one installed.
“I have just tabled a Motion of No Confidence, not in you, but in your whole cabinet in terms of Section 102 of the Constitution,” said Steenhuisen.
“If it’s not possible for you to hold your Executive accountable and still survive as president, then we will take that burden off your hands and let this House fire them for you.”
Steenhuisen singled out ministers such as Gwede Mantashe, Fikile Mbalula, Lindiwe Sisulu, Bheki Cele, Ayanda Dlodlo, Lindiwe Zulu, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams and Patricia De Lille as being among those who should have been fired long ago.
“Accountability is something you [Ramaphosa] only talk about because doing something would be firing some of your cabinet and upsetting your comrades,” said Steenhuisen.
In terms of the motion, the DA said it acknowledged that several ”Members of the Executive who have been implicated and found responsible for the governance failures, acts of alleged corruption and maladministration have not been held accountable for their actions nor faced any real consequences, as the interests and loyalties of those in the governing party to which most of them belong are placed above those of the Republic”.
“Further acknowledges that a recent damning report found that widespread infighting between some Members of the Executive, most notably those in the Security Cluster, directly contributed to the severity and prolonging of the July 2021 civil unrests,” said the party.
- * Inside Politics
