President Cyril Ramaphosa will face a vote of no-confidence on Wednesday amid opposition failure to bar cabinet members from voting during the motion in Parliament.
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula announced on Tuesday that she had declined requests by the opposition Democratic Alliance’s (DA) and the African Transformation Movement’s (ATM) for cabinet members to be barred from voting on the motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa scheduled for Wednesday.
In his request, DA leader John Steenhuisen indicated that there would be a conflict of interest if cabinet ministers were allowed to participate in the motion of no confidence that seeks to remove the president from office.
“The constitution requires ministers to account, participate and vote in matters of the Assembly that may impact their political offices directly,” the Speaker said.
“I am of the view that if the drafters of the Constitution had intended to exclude the participation and voting by cabinet members, with the exception of those mentioned above, they would have been explicit in that intention,” she said.
Mapisa-Nqakula has also welcomed the Western Cape High Court’s ruling striking off the roll an application by the ATM to have a secret ballot in the motion of no confidence against the president.
The court decision followed ATM’s urgent application requesting for a closed vote on the motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa.
NM/jn/APA