The DA in the Western Cape legislature has stymied moves by the ANC to table a motion of no-confidence in Premier Helen Zille.
Chief whip Mark Wiley‚ said the legislature’s programming committee‚ which he chairs‚ considered the motion but decided that it would not be included on the order paper for the next two sittings. The ANC wanted the motion debated this week but will have to wait until the June 29.
Said Wiley: “It is on the order paper [and] it is what we call ‘below the line’‚ in other words it won’t be debated this Thursday‚ and the next Thursday also is not appropriate as the premier is not here.”
The ANC leader in the legislature‚ Khaya Magaxa‚ said Wiley had repeatedly refused to include the motion for this week‚ despite the party insisting it wanted the matter debated.
“He is talking nonsense ... he literally refused to put it on the order paper on the basis that they didn’t see it as an urgent matter. That’s what [the DA] have been doing all along ... that’s how they close the democratic space in the legislature‚” he said.
Magaxa said if the same thing was done by the ANC in the National Assembly‚ the DA would have gone to court.
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