DA to abstain from frivolous motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa

2 December 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will abstain from voting in tomorrow’s motion of no confidence brought against President Cyril Ramaphosa. We believe that this is a frivolous motion which has been brought before Parliament by the African Transformation Movement (ATM).

The ATM – a side project of the Zuma/Magashule faction in the ANC – is destined to fail without the majority support of MPs. The two ATM MPs, together with a large portion of ANC MPs, will need to vote in favour – a step which may also place a number of Zuma/Magashule allies in the Ramaphosa Cabinet on the chopping board.

The motion will, therefore, not succeed and only offer an entertainment break from the work of Parliament.

The DA’s decision to abstain from the vote does not mean that we will not hold the President accountable. By abstaining, we are placing President Ramaphosa on notice, because if he does not implement his economic reform strategy, as promised, we will certainly, in future, reconsider our decision to abstain from such a motion.

The enemies of growth and development are massing against the President and he must move boldly and decisively if he is serious about South Africa’s economic revival.

This motion should serve as a wakeup call for the President to show some backbone by tabling his Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan before Parliament for it to be passed and implemented without delay.

Issued byNatasha Mazzone,Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, 2 December 2020