Ramaphosa faces his first motion of no confidence in parliament

The national assembly will debate a motion of no confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa next Thursday.

It will be the first time MPs will debate Ramaphosa’s fitness to hold the highest office in the land since his election in February 2018.

The motion was brought by the African Transformation Movement (ATM) in February amid load-shedding and the country plunging into economic crisis at the time.

Secretary to the national assembly Masibulele Xaso told a meeting of the assembly’s programming committee on Thursday that speaker Thandi Modise had approved the ATM’s request for the house to debate the motion.

ATM president Vuyolwethu Zungula previously said his party, being a faith-based organisation, gave Ramaphosa’s administration the benefit of the doubt, on the basis of the majority — albeit reduced — electoral support it got.

“We thought as social democrats we should respect the will of the majority,” he said. “But the sixth administration has turned out to be the most advised administration since the dawn of democracy, with a number of advisory bodies and various envoys whose advice, it seemed, was falling on deaf ears or was being poorly implemented.”

“It is safe to say this country has a parallel cabinet but still no positive outcome. SA allowed President Ramaphosa a free hand to do things the new dawn way but the country keeps sliding.”

Zungula said despite many summits, investment conferences and pledges, the country continued to sink.

He said even the business community, that was very supportive of Ramaphosa, had become fatigued and exasperated because of his inaction.

“‘Ramaphoria’ is no more. Many people in private conversations, and some publicly, are very sad to accept that SA has been on a slippery slope ever since President Ramaphosa occupied the highest office in the land. The new dawn that was promised has in fact become a nightmare for virtually all the citizens of SA,” said Zungula at the time.

The party also cited Ramaphosa’s failure to disclose to parliament the R500,000 donation from late Bosasa boss Gavin Watson, “misleading or lying” to the nation by saying there would be no load-shedding until January 13 2020, and the failure to act against public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and the Eskom board for allegedly misleading him on the load-shedding programme.