National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will remain in her position after surviving her first motion of no confidence.
On Wednesday, 234 MPs voted against the motion tabled by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), while 42 supported her removal and 73 abstained.
The EFF wanted Mapisa-Nqakula removed from her position after the party’s MPs were forcibly removed from the Cape Town City Hall chamber during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) on 9 February.
The Speaker asked the police and parliamentary protection services (PPS) officers to get rid of the EFF MPs after they disrupted proceedings.
‘Political theatrics’
During the debate on Wednesday, ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude labelled the EFF as “anarchists” and accuse the Red Berets of “political theatrics” and “grandstanding” to make a name for themselves.
“These are enemies of the Constitution who have tangibly demonstrated that they do not respect the rules that governs this House and have continued to violate and defy those rules for self-interest, populism and misguided relevance,” she said.
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Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Annelie Lotriet said although Mapisa-Nqakula has fallen short of the requirements of a speaker, the party will not support the EFF’s motion.
“It is, therefore, clears that the motion of no confidence cannot be limited to a single incident. Before a motion of no confidence can be considered the totality of performance must be evaluated,” Lotriet told the National Assembly.
Watch the debate below:
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) MP Narend Singh indicated that his party won’t be supporting the motion because the matter was still yet to be discussed by Parliament’s Rules Committee.
Singh urged opposition parties to avoid using parliamentary processes for “political point scoring” without being absolutely sure of the facts and evidence.
Furthermore, Freedom Front Plus (FF+) leader Pieter Groenewald said he was of the view that the security forces “did the right thing” by protecting the president.
“It is proof that they are properly trained,” he said.
READ MORE: Malema accuses Mapisa-Nqakula of protecting Ramaphosa
Groenewald called on the Speaker consider coming up with stricter rules to deal with MPs who refuse to leave the National Assembly when asked to do so.
“[They] must be [docked] three months salary,” the FF+ leader suggested.
The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), United Democratic Movement (UDM), GOOD party, the National Freedom Party (NFP) also did not support the motion.
Malema accuses Speaker
Earlier, EFF leader Julius Malema accused Mapisa-Nqakula of degenerating Parliament into “a place of violence, censorship and an arena where the Constitution is disrespected and violated”.
Malema also accused the Speaker of having a predetermined agenda of protecting President Cyril Ramaphosa from all scrutiny at all costs.
“It is this Speaker, who denied a secret ballot vote on the establishment of the Section 89 Committee into Phala Phala Farm, despite members being threatened with removal by the ruling party should they decide to vote with their conscience.
“She is happy when we leave these chambers in the hands of men who are unashamed to violate women Members of Parliament (MPs), touch our private parts and harass us such that we end up in hospital seeking medical treatment,” the EFF leader said.
Additional reporting by Stephen Tau
