Maimane: It would be inappropriate for the DA to support Ramaphosa’s election

DA Leader Mmusi Maimane said the DA would not field their own candidate to contest the presidency when Parliament gathers to elect a new president at 2pm on Thursday.

Speaking to the media on the stairs of the National Assembly following Jacob Zuma’s resignation as president‚ Maimane said it would be inappropriate for the DA to support Cyril Ramaphosa’s election.

“We don’t only have a Jacob Zuma problem we have an ANC problem‚” he said.

Maimane said he has written to speaker of the National Assembly‚ Baleka Mbete requesting an urgent debate on the dissolution of Parliament‚ which the EFF said they would support.

“We believe Parliament must function. If the ANC wants to install Cyril Ramaphosa they must go ahead and do that. But they must know that with immediate effect we (must) go through a process of how we dissolve Parliament‚” he said.

Maimane noted that South Africa needed a fresh start and the new administration ought to get a mandate from the electorate.