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04 Aug, 2017
UDM President Bantu Holomisa, MP – The motion of no confidence debate and the secret ballot
Speaking notes for UDM President Bantu Holomisa, MP The motion of no confidence debate and the secret ballot on 4 August 2017 at the Cape Town Press Club, Grill Room, Kelvin Grove, Cape Town, at 13:00 Programme Director Ladies and gentlemen Introduction South Africans have long agreed that Mr Zuma is no longer a legitimate President of the Country. The damning Constitutional Court judgment which found that he failed to respect, uphold and defend the Constitution, sealed his fate. The rest of the daily revelations, on the ills of his presidency, are a vindication of the point that he has completely lost the plot. This is a man who will, in the next four days, face the eighth motion of no confidence in him. This means that on average Mr Zuma has faced at least one motion of no confidence for every year of his presidency. I make this point to simply illustrate that there is overwhelming consensus that Mr Zuma should urgently vacate this honourable office, because he is no longer honourable. The Constitutional Court expressed itself again when it confirmed, on the 22nd of June, that the Speaker has the discretionary power to determine the voting method for a no-confidence motion. It also counselled her on how to discharge that power, in the interest of the Constitution and the citizens of South African, and confirmed public representatives’ obligations to our constitutional democracy. The Secret Ballot The call for a secret ballot is no longer a United Democratic Movement matter, but one for each and every South African. The Conference for the Future of South Africa (held on 18 July), which was attended by no less than 130 civil society organisations, confirmed the need for Mr Zuma’s immediate departure, as well as that of a secret ballot. Every day the ruling party – through its Secretary General (SG), its Chief Whip or any other member – vindicates the citizens’ call for a secret ballot. We all know that the Speaker is heavily conflicted and is unlikely to take her cue from the Constitution or listen to the guidance of the Constitutional Court. As always, her decision will be a Luthuli House decision. The fact that she is delaying her decision speaks volumes. Scenarios If the Speaker grants a secret ballot, the debate will follow and the vote will take place as planned. We can only hope that all 400 members of the National Assembly (NA) will listen to the Constitutional Court’s guidance and put South Africa first by voting in favour of the motion. If the motion succeeds, the Constitution provides for the resignation of the President, the Deputy President and all members of the Executive. The Speaker would then act as President and, within 30 days, an election of the new President must take place. The UDM will respect the electorate’s 2014-choice of voting the African National Congress (ANC) into power. The removal of Mr Zuma is not about regime change but about a clean and responsive governance. If the Speaker does not grant the secret ballot, there are two possibilities: Firstly, and depending on her grounds for refusal, the Speaker’s decision may be referred for judicial review. In this case, the parties that moved the motion may have to withdraw pending such a review. This applies whether the Speaker announces her decision on the eve, or on the day, of the debate. Secondly, the debate may continue as planned and an open vote takes place. In this case, our interest (and those of South Africans) will be focussed on the ANC-benches. We would want to see whether the ANC members are: loyal to their personal financial interests, their ANC factional interests or the interests of the Country and its citizens. It is equally important to see who, amongst the 400 NA members, are loyal to the Constitution and the Country, as opposed to those who want to defend the indefensible. We know, that the “other faction” of the ANC would wish to kick the ball into touch and prevent this debate from taking place in 2017. They intend to wait until Mr Zuma is no longer ANC President so that they can ask him to step down or move the same motion from their own quarters. The ANC SG is on record saying that it is not easy to remove a sitting ANC president from the Union Buildings. On August the 8th We call on all UDM members and citizens in general to join the national wide protests and those who can, march to parliament on the day. Beyond the 8th of August Irrespective of the outcome of the debate and the vote on Tuesday, South Africa will still need to function. The UDM will continue betting on a wicket of anti-corruption and clean governance. In this regard, we will prevail on whoever is the head of government to: Ensure that the revelations found in the popular “Gupta emails”, are acted upon, by, amongst others, ensuring that the relevant state institutions are doing their work. Police must investigate and arrest, the Prosecution Authority must prosecute and secure convictions. Suspend all Ministers and state officials who are alleged to have done wrong, pending the investigations. Ensure that all contracts suspected of been wrongly awarded, must be suspended. Provide support and security for all public servants and members of the public who are exposing corruption and wrong doing in state institutions. Provide full support to all Chapter Nine Institutions and clean the State Owned Enterprises of corrupt individuals. Rid the Country of lawlessness that seem to be the order of the day under Mr Zuma’s presidency. We will also support the criminal cases opened by citizens and organisations against all the people who are alleged to be guilty of corruption and fraudulent activities. We will continue to mobilise society against all forms of corruption, and in support of clean governance, and the respect of law and the Constitution. The struggle against state capture is not over and it will need all of us to work collectively and tirelessly against it. Conclusion Whatever the Speaker’s decision, we remain resolved to rid South Africa of a president whose primary occupation is the total collapse of the Country. Unlike the ANC, we are impatient with his continued stay in office and we will work hard to ensure that the Country is saved from him and his cronies. South Africans should seriously consider an electoral method that puts the power into their hands. The UDM champions the reform of our current electoral system in favour of the citizens, rather than the self-interested political parties. Twenty-three years of ANC abuse of power has taught us an expensive, but valuable lesson. I thank you
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13 Jul, 2017
Opposition parties met in Pretoria to discuss pressing issues
The following parties; ACDP, APC, COPE, DA, EFF, IFP and the UDM met today to discuss a number of burning political issues. 1. Secret Ballot or not? The 22 June Constitutional Court judgment We welcome the Constitutional Court judgement on the Speaker’s discretion to decide whether a vote on a no-confidence motion in the President of the Republic should be secret or not. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, has given the Speaker of the National Assembly wise advice in the Court’s judgement: “South Africa is a constitutional democracy – a government of the people, by the people and for the people through the instrumentality of the Constitution. It is a system of governance that “we the people” consciously and purposefully opted for to create a truly free, just and united nation. Central to this vision is the improvement of the quality of life of all citizens and the optimisation of the potential of each through good governance.” About the power of those in public office the Constitutional Court said: “They are therefore not to be used for the advancement of personal or sectarian interests. Amandla awethu, mannda ndiashu, maatla ke a rona or matimba ya hina (power belongs to us) and mayibuye iAfrika (restore Africa and its wealth) are much more than mere excitement-generating slogans.” Some political parties in Parliament have already begun to make their submissions to the Speaker to further motivate for a secret ballot. However, we reinforce the ruling that it is within her discretion to make a determination. We hope that for once, she will be impartial and take a decision for the benefit of South Africa. We note her instructions to the ANC MPs to vote in favour of their President; the Speaker is patently biased and therefore compromised. She cannot preside over the debate. To add to this, Ms Mbete will act as President in the event of the success of the no-confidence-vote which makes her even more conflicted. 2. Activities on the day of the Motion of No-Confidence Regarding activities scheduled for the 8th of August, the date on which the vote on the no-confidence motion will take place in the National Assembly, we call all South Africans to converge in Cape Town and march to Parliament in support of a better South Africa without a incompetent President at the helm. Those who are not able to make it to Cape Town must engage in activities in their villages, townships and towns. We call on the entire civil society sector, religious institutions, traditional leaders, unions, and everybody, to stand up to a scandalous President. 3. Speaker’s worrying comments on the judiciary We are concerned about Ms Baleka Mbete’s accusations that certain judges are biased against her party. This undermines her duty to act as a liaison between Parliament as an institution and the other arms of State. This means that she still fails to separate her role as the head of the National Assembly and that of the African National Congress (ANC) Chairperson. 4. Attack on the media We, in the strongest terms, condemn the Black First Land First-led onslaught on journalists. We reaffirm our commitment to a free and independent media whose right, to keep the nation informed, is guaranteed by the Constitution. We denounce this emerging foreign culture of intolerance we witness these days. 5. The Judicial Commission of Inquiry on State Capture We call on President Zuma to demonstrate, for once, that he is true to his words; telling the National Assembly that he is about to announce a Commission Inquiry on State Capture. He should with immediate effect withdraw his court challenge on the Public Protector’s State Capture Report and announce the Commission as per the remedial actions of the Public Protector. 6. The racially divisive Bell Pottinger’s agenda We reject the so-called apology by a racist prone Bell Pottinger. The ANC and its Gupta sponsors must explain why they allowed such rampant racism to divide the Nation, using resources which should have been dedicated to bettering the lives of all South Africans. The ANC and its government must come clean and explain how they ended up in the pockets of this racist company. 7. Public Protector We condemn the conduct of the Public Protector in terms of the remedial actions affecting the Reserve Bank. Her flip-flops on the matter does not paint a picture of an incontrovertible Public Protector. We call on Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane to unequivocally apologise to the Nation and that she immediately stops turning this office into a political side show that serves the interests of a destructive faction within the ruling party. We also call on the National Assembly Justice Portfolio Committee to summon Advocate Mkhwebane to account for her actions, in this regard. 8. The work of the Independent Electoral Commission With a view to improve the freeness and fairness of the 2019 National and Provincial Elections, opposition party leaders wish to soon meet with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to again discuss our perennial concerns; what their interventions are on that score; and also brief us on their state of readiness for 2019. 9. Party funding Public funding of political parties is a critical tool to foster a healthy multi-party democracy. We are however worried about the intentions of the ruling party; in particular after their losing some metropolitan municipalities in 2016 and with them facing a strong possibility of losing the majority in 2019 National and Provincial Elections. Our position is that we must ensure equitable allocation of resources to all political parties in terms of the current legislation. We must first establish a common interpretation and application of the existing legislation and once that is done, we can think about further funding, if necessary. 10. Security of leaders of political parties The issue of the privacy and safety of political leaders has recently come to the fore. Over the past few months many reports have surfaced of an alleged rogue intelligence unit spying on leaders. Most recently, the emails and documents obtained through the #GuptaLeaksshowed how the family spied on prominent South Africans. We have resolved to ask the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence to request a briefing from the State security apparatus on the media reports; especially in cases where some leaders have apparently been targeted for assassination. Thank you By Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP On behalf of Opposition Parties represented in the National Assembly. Burgers Park Hotel, Pretoria on 13 July 2017
