DA abusing motions of no confidence: ANC

The Democratic Alliance abuses and misuses motions of no confidence in Parliament.

That's the word from the African National Congress in Parliament. 

ANC chief whip Stone Sizani’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said they had noted the decision by National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete to agree to the DA’s request for a motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma.

Mothapo said in a statement that the Constitution afforded parliamentary parties the right to propose motions of no confidence in the president.

"Even if they are frivolous or there is no factual motivation to do so, as exemplified by the current DA motion and many others the party previously tabled."

He said the motion of no confidence was supposed to be a powerful and critical tool of oversight, but it was abused.

"Over a period of time the DA has abused, misused and trivialised this type of motion merely to score few headlines, hence today it has lost significance. 

"The DA has turned this powerful parliamentary oversight mechanism into a trite ritual that very few in our society, rather than take seriously, correctly see it as a waste of Parliament's valuable time," the office of the chief whip said.

Mothapo said the opposition party was guilty of devaluing and making a mockery of one of the most powerful functions in Parliament.

"The ANC stands ready to reaffirm the confidence of the great majority of South Africans in the leadership of President Jacob Zuma and his executive through superior arguments, as we have consistently done in the past."

The DA called for the debate in December after a surprise Cabinet reshuffle by the president.

In a letter to the DA, Mbete said her office was in the process of consulting with the Leader of Government Business and the Chief Whip of the Majority Party to schedule the motion "within a reasonable period of time".

The motion would be published in the first available Order Paper in 2016, Mbete said.

In March 2015, the DA unsuccessfully brought a motion of no confidence against Zuma.

Source: News 24