THE National Assembly has voted against the motion of no confidence in Cabinet sponsored by the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The official opposition tabled the motion last month, criticising Cabinet’s failure to reform the economy, create jobs, fight poverty and deal decisively with allegations of rampant corruption.
The party’s leader John Steehuisen made an impassioned plea to MPs to hold the executive to account.
“Today is about restoring the most scared and fundamental tenet in any democracy, the principle of accountability,” Steenhuisen said in his opening speech to the House.
“If our sole mission is to end poverty, and it should be, then we must start by firing the poverty Cabinet because we won’t win the war with the same general that also got us into the mess in the first place. South Africa needs a fresh start and that fresh start starts today with a slimmed-down, fit-for-purpose Cabinet who are up to the task.”
The motion sparked a charged debate among MPs with some parties, including the National Freedom Party, arguing it would be unfair to paint the whole Cabinet with the same brush when some ministers have “performed exceptionally well”.
ANC MPs unanimously voted against the motion.
The total votes against the motion tallied 231, while 131 MPs voted in favour of the motion. Only one MP abstained.
Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli confirmed the outcome of the vote.
“The motion is therefore not agreed to,” Tsenoli said.
Earlier, President Cyril Ramaphosa faced a motion of no confidence separately brought by the African Transformation Movement (ATM), which holds two seats in the National Assembly.
The motion by the ATM stalled on Wednesday as parliamentary speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula referred the matter to the programme committee.
- Inside Politics
