Economic Freedom Fighters no-confidence motion against Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was defeated, with 234 votes against, 42 for, and 73 abstentions from the DA and the United Democratic Movement (UDM), leaving Mapisa-Nqakula the second incumbent to survive such a motion since 2014.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Our abstinence… should never be construed as a vote of confidence in you, Madam Speaker. Our abstinence is motivated by the fact that the motion before us today does not even scratch the surface of why you are ill-suited for this role,” said DA Chief Whip Siviwe Gwarube.[/perfectpullquote]
In a hard-hitting debate contribution, Gwarube pointed out that Mapisa-Nqakula “routinely forgets the separation of powers”, and that Parliament had yet to qualitatively deal with the State Capture commission recommendations.
The EFF’s no-confidence motion in the Speaker was leveraged off its MPs’ eviction by armed and camouflaged tactical response members during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) in February.
Mapisa-Nqakula had “conducted herself in an irresponsible, unconstitutional and unacceptable manner when she called members of the security services to come inside the Parliament chamber”, according to the EFF motion on Wednesday’s Order Paper. The motion also said the Speaker “relied on her emotions and her biases, which resulted in shameful violence against Members of Parliament”.
Like the DA, other opposition parties disagreed, albeit with more delicate phrasing.
IFP Chief Whip Narend Singh said while no-confidence motions were entrenched in the Constitution and parliamentary rules, political parties had to desist from political point-scoring.
“We do not believe the issues are substantive enough to support this motion of no confidence,” said Singh.
The UDM’s Nqabayomzi Kwankwa said because the motion was premature in the light of parliamentary processes still under way, the party could not support it.
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) MP Steve Swart said the no-confidence motion was brought on very limited grounds. Had it been framed differently, it would have enjoyed more support.
Ditto, responses from the Freedom Front Plus, National Freedom Party (NFP), African Independent Congress (AIC) and Al Jama-ah.
The EFF, however, received support from African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader, Vuyolwethu Zungula, who outlined how Mapisa-Nqakula had dismissed his party’s various efforts to hold the executive to account, including secret ballots. Parliament needed a Speaker for all, not just one political party.
Mapisa-Nqakula sat next to Deputy President Paul Mashatile in the front row of the sitting at the Cape Town City Hall. Just over her right shoulder was her predecessor as Speaker, Defence Minister Thandi Modise.
