By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The opposition parties are continuing to put pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa, with the DA calling for the dissolution of the National Assembly while the EFF wants a no-confidence motion tabled.
On Monday, DA leader, John Steenhuisen, said Ramaphosa had lost his legitimacy and mandate to continue serving as the country’s leader.
The dissolving of the National Assembly would lead to an early election.
Ramaphosa has faced widespread calls for his resignation following the release of the Section 89 Independent Panel report, which probed his actions following a February burglary at his Phala Phala farm.
In a scathing Section 89 report, a panel headed by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo found that Ramaphosa may have violated the Constitution and anti-corruption laws in his Phala Phala game farm dealing. The game farm in Limpopo was broken into and robbed of a large amount of money.
Steenhuisen said the DA believed the only way the country could move on from the political uncertainty caused by the panel’s report was for fresh elections to be held.
The Constitution allows for the National Assembly to be dissolved if the majority of MPs vote in support.
The ANC has a majority in Parliament, and for any such motion to succeed will need the entire opposition bloc and ANC MPs to support it.
Meanwhile Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema believes opposition parties represented in Parliament will vote overwhelmingly for Ramaphosa to face impeachment over the Phala Phala saga.
Malema, speaking at a media briefing on Monday in Johannesburg, said he was more concerned about the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) support for the parliamentary impeachment process.
He said the EFF was happy that National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula rejected a request from the ATM for voting to be carried out by way of a secret ballot.
Malema said if members of Parliament (MPs) from the governing ANC voted against the impeachment process, they would be “showing the Constitution the middle finger”.
Malema added MPs should vote according to their conscience and claimed that Ramaphosa will be shocked by the outcome of the votes on Tuesday.
“The ANC tomorrow must vote against the panel so that South Africans can see who they are. They’re a bunch of corrupt people who’ve got no regard for the laws of South Africa, “said Malema.
“The numbers look good from where we are sitting, we’ve got no doubt… all of the opposition is consolidated [and] the report will be adopted tomorrow.”
Malema confirmed that opposition parties, including the DA, will be meeting on Tuesday morning in Cape Town ahead of the proceedings in the National Assembly.