ANC WELCOMES THE DEFEAT OF THE PROPOSAL TO TABLE THE ATM STILL BORN MOTION TO THE PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE AS WELL AS THE DEFEAT OF THE MOTION OF NO CONFIDENCE BY THE DA

30 March 2022

The African National Congress (ANC) welcomes the ruling of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Madame Nosiviwe Mapisa - Nqakula today, Wednesday 30⁴¹ March 2022 on the National Assembly Programming Committee to deal with the almost still - born African Transformation Movement (ATM) motion of no confidence as procedurally sound. Similarly, the ANC welcomes the defeat of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Motion of No Confidence Against the Executive_

The ANC is of the belief that even if the Motion were brought back to the National Assembly a million times, this Motion would still not see the light of day. The ANC is of the firm belief that part of defending our democratic gains necessitate that both these motions get defeated. The ANC congratulates its Parliamentary Caucus for defeating the DA motion and look forward to guidance the National Assembly Programming Committee will provide when the ATM matter is discussed.

The defeat of both these motions will show that there is no concrete evidence to suggest any basis for their illusions and stands as an affirmation of our unwavering confidence in the President of the Republic of South Africa, President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa

Both Motions are nothing else but a quest for relevance and attention - seeking gimmicks by these terrible Siamese twins. This is the pattern we have continued to observe since President Ramaphosa was democratically elected into office on the 8"' May 2019

For the ATM a party that received less than one percent of electoral support in the May 2019 national elections, yet they believe they can alter the will of the majority of the South African people is wishful thinking. This is just a political stunt aimed at usurping power through the backdoor.

The DA, a party of old hankering for the good old days have never made peace with the African National Congress occupying political office since its days as the Democratic Party (DP). Over the years its voice has waned and its support dwindled and of late the mass exodus of the departure of its Black leaders have been the only notable triumphs they can display.

The ANC went into this afternoon proceedings fully confident that these motions would be stillborn and the Members of Parliament who voted showed their commitment to their organization

It would seem that the sponsors of both these motions suffer from convenient amnesia.

Rather, we should be focusing an the poverty of the DA that has seen a massive scorecard of resignations of Mbali Ntuli, Lindiwe Mazibuko, Mmusi Maimane, Phumzile van Demme, Athol Trollip, Bongani Baloyi and Herman Mashaba.

The DA's contribution to our democracy has been to derail, delay, reverse and ultimately prevent the fundamental transformation of society. The recent COVID - 19 pandemic and perceptions of its mismanagement fails to acknowledge the excellence within which the Cabinet led by President Ramaphosa handled the pandemic through the efficient National Command Council.

PERFORMANCE AGREEMENTS

Members of the Executive have signed performance agreements with the President and these have been made public so that there can be public scrutiny to assess such performance. The Agreements have nothing to do with so called loyalties and interests of anyone who is in the governing party.

There is no ill - intent on the part of the ANC Government to circumvent these processes. Performance of any individual member of Cabinet cannot be measured subjectively by a particular party which is what the sponsors of the motion, the DA are seeking to portray.

The President is managing performance of Cabinet through performance agreements. At no time, has the National Assembly resolved that the President is not acting upon his responsibilities as contained in these plans.

For its part Parliament has identified the causes of poor performance including irregular expenditure through the oversight work of its Committees. This has no bearing whatsoever to the Cabinet.

Recent claims by the DA labelling Cabinet as a poverty Cabinet is nothing else but a figment of their own fertile imagination. Allegations cannot be an objective basis for a call to reconstitute Cabinet.

On Oversight and accountability

The ANC fully supports that oversight and accountability are key to an effective political administration. Departments and state entities as led by members of the Executive, who table Strategic plans and quarterly reports which are adopted by the Portfolio Committees. None of these Portfolio Committees have sponsored Motions of No Confidence against the Executive.

ON CLEAN GOVERNANCE

The ANC is fully behind Cabinet's commitment to clean governance as articulated in our various election Manifestos. For their part Law enforcement agencies are dealing with matters of criminality and preempting such due processes with motions of no confidence is obstructionist at best at most unhelpful.

CHALLENGES OF SERVICE DELIVERY

Evidence informs us that there certainly are challenges of service delivery in certain geographical areas but it does not constitute the collapse of service delivery in an entire department. The ANC Local Barometer measure has assisted in identifying areas that require urgent attention.

The ANC acknowledges that Cabinet has been at the centre of the improved intergovernmental relations and in particular the District Development model.

The piloting of District Development Model and the initiatives under Operation Vulindlela are designed to address these matters. Amongst others, the President has appointed Mr Sipho Nkosi to deal with the challenges of red tape so as to ensure that impediments and delays to service delivery and economic activities are eliminated.

On Safety and Security

The ANC has noted that the 'Report of the Expert Panel into the July 2021 civil unrest has been submitted to Parliament. The processing of this Report has begun by the Executive. For its part, Parliament must still engage on the report and this responsibility must be taken forward by Parliament. Jumping the gun before Parliament has applied its mind does not help.

EMPOWERMENT OF PREVIOUSLY MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES

The ANC is satisfied that Cabinet has been focused on empowerment of the previously marginalised through ensuring that preferential procurement and affirmative action are not compromised. At the root of the factors which

contributed       to the July 2021 unrest, are the historical legacies of apartheid. The triple challenges of
unemployment, inequality and poverty must be aggressively addressed to ensure stability of the country.

DA ALLEGATION ON THE CONTRAVENTION OF OATH OF OFFICE

The ANC has noted that without providing any facts nor back- up, allegations have been made regarding the 'contravention of oath of office'. These are laughable because there is no evidence provided to back up these falsely made claims. As globally applied normal practice, Redeployments are the prerogative of the President based upon needs of the Stale at any particular moment. These needs are not static but change given the changing conditions that confronts government. This does not in any manner amount to the contravention of Oath Of Office.

The DA Motion suffers from a number of flaws , amongst others it is based upon a divisive tactic of attempting to remove the President from his appointed Cabinet. If the sponsor of the motion was so aggrieved with Cabinet , they should have called for the entire Cabinet to be removed since it was appointed by the President. Furthermore, it is the ANC's belief that the motion suffers from stereotyping of performance of all Ministers, labelling them as one and the same, without any backup evidence.

In conclusion, as the ANC Deputy Chief Whip articulated during the Debate on the DA Motion today, the architecture of South Africa's democratic state is founded on principles of equality, freedom and justice based on hard fought and won struggles The ANC will continue to defend these democratic gains from an ongoing onslaught by those who were peace- time heroes. Their ultimate sacrifices waged through relentless struggles will not be undermined by trickery of a defeated enemy and its ilk.These sustained attacks will continue to fail.

The ANC wishes to extend its gratitude and appreciation to all the other parties who voted against the Motion in support of President Rama phase and his Executive in the spirit of participatory democracy.

Statement issued by the ANC, 30 March 2022