The African Transformation Movement's postponed motion of no confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa is to be sent to the National Assembly programming committee (NAPC) for reconsideration.
Speaker Thandi Modise made the announcement after she granted the ATM's request for the motion to be put on hold.
The ATM sought the postponement after it approached the Western Cape High Court, seeking an urgent review of Modise's decision not to grant a secret ballot during the vote that was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
The debate was postponed after the lawyers of parliament and the ATM, together with the high court, agreed in chambers that the matter would be heard in court on February 4 2021.
The motion was sponsored by ATM president Vuyolwethu Zungula, who among other reasons for calling for the debate, cited the poor state of the economy, load-shedding that took place in January and Ramaphosa's “misleading of parliament” about a R500,000 donation his CR17 campaign received from Bosasa.
Modise on Thursday told MPs that the motion would be sent back to the programming committee for reconsideration, in view of a request for a secret ballot.
“In the current matter, there was also a limited time to consult the NAPC in respect of the request of the honourable Zungula,” said Modise. “The motion of a postponement of a motion of this nature as against the withdrawal of a motion in terms of rule 128 is a matter that I believe requires deliberation at the level of the programme committee.
“The reason is the effects that such a motion has in terms of blocking similar motions from being moved. The programme committee needs to make a final determination regarding how matters of this nature must be handled in future.”
But Modise emphasised that the referral of the matter to the NAPC was not “to determine how I take the decision [on the secret ballot] but to determine the scheduling of the motion”.
MPs weigh in on motion
After Modise's report-back, MPs took turns in seemingly mocking the motion, which was sponsored by a party with only two MPs.
Tabled in terms of section 102 of the constitution, the motion would have required a majority of 200 plus one out of 400 MPs for it to oust Ramaphosa from the Union Buildings.
“Madam speaker, thanks very much for the report-back. The ANC, we were ready for this motion and I'm sure that even if you bring it back on December 25 we'll still be ready,” said deputy state security minister Zizi Kodwa.
“Asseblief, not on the 25th of December, it's my birthday,” responded Modise in jest, before EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu interjected.
“You're going to be very shocked, honourable Kodwa,” said Shivambu.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said his party's planned abstinence from the postponed vote would have boosted the president's health.
“Madam speaker, like the honourable Kodwa, we came to the house prepared for this motion and we were hoping that our abstinence would've made the president's heart stronger,” joked Steenhuisen.
Steve Swart of the ACDP said it was regrettable that the ATM took the matter to court just on the eve of the debate.
For his part, Shivambu said the NAPC needed to discuss the logistics of granting a secret ballot while parliament continued to operate on a hybrid model, with some MPs operating from the chamber in Cape Town while others worked from home because of the lockdown.
In declining the ATM's request, Modise said a secret ballot would be impossible to administer in a parliament that conducted its business virtually.
“We must be proactive in the manner in which we prepare ourselves as parliament. I don't think it must be very difficult for the presiding officers to grant the request for a secret ballot if it's requested,” said Shivambu.
“If you are confident about the unity of your organisation [ANC] and the unity of your public representative, there can't be any difficulty in terms of granting the secret ballot, but we need to discuss what are the most effective options in terms of casting ballots.”
